Tunisia’s powerful labor union allows members to vote on new constitution

TUNIS, Tunisia (AA) – Tunisia’s powerful labor union has allowed its members to vote in a referendum later this month on the country’s new constitution.

“Members have the freedom to vote in the (constitutional) referendum,” Noureddine Taboubi, secretary-general of the Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT), said following a meeting in the capital Tunis.

Taboubi said the new charter has positive articles related to rights and freedoms.

“The charter, however, includes articles that consolidate power in the president’s hands in addition to the absence of any mention of the civil state,” he added.

Tunisians are scheduled to vote on July 25 in a public referendum on an amended version of the constitution.

Under the new constitution, the government will be answerable to the president and not to the parliament.

The draft constitution also gives power to the president to dissolve the parliament. The president can serve for two terms of five years. The 142-article draft also says that Tunisia is a republic with a presidential system.

Tunisia has been caught up in a deep political crisis since the Arab Spring, that aggravated the country’s economic conditions. Conditions have worsened since President Kais Saied ousted the government, suspended the parliament and assumed executive authority in July 2021.

While Saied insists that his measures were meant to “save” the country, political analysts, rivals and much of the general public have accused him of orchestrating a coup and violating democratic norms.