President Kais Saied says he will form a committee to write a constitution for a “new Republic” in Tunisia, which he intends to put to a referendum vote in July.
Mr Saied has often stated his aim to rewrite the 2014 constitution, which was drafted by an elected constituent assembly in the years after the removal of president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
His vow that this will now happen was made in a televised speech on Sunday, just days after he reorganised the country's independent electoral commission.
In a tweet published on the presidential account, which Mr Saied uses to communicate with the public, his office said he had consulted lawyers Sadok Belaid and Mohamed Salah Ben Aissa earlier on Sunday to “discuss the legal situation and the constitution that will be drafted and approved by referendum on July 25 “, the one-year mark of his seizure of sole control of the country.
In his address, Mr Saied said a national dialogue on reforms would include four major organisations in Tunisia, referring to the powerful UGTT labour union, the lawyers' union, the industry and trade federation and the Tunisian Human Rights League.
In a May Day speech, UGTT Secretary General Noureddine Taboubi restated his organisation's rejection of Mr Saied's accumulated power and warned that the president “must keep his promise and launch a national dialogue before it is too late “.
Calls have been made by civil society organisations and foreign partners for transparency and inclusion in the process of drafting a new constitution. But even those who supported the president's unilateral actions to shut parliament and take sole control of the country have been left out.
In January, Mr Saied launched an online consultation, which he said would inform the drafting of a new constitution. Less than five per cent of Tunisians participated.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinkin, speaking at a hearing before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on April 28, said the low turnout of the consultation “does not augur well” for an inclusive reform process.
The US has cut back its aid to Tunisia as a reflection of concerns about its democratic trajectory, he said.
Amine Ghali, the director of Al Kawakibi Democracy Transition Centre, said the consultation raised more questions than it answered.
“Because there is no transparency in his process, we have no idea how Saied will be using the results of this poll,” he said. “He may put this all aside and draft a constitution from scratch.”
Concerns about the integrity of the July 25 referendum, and legislative elections slated for mid-December, increased when last month Mr Saied reorganised the country's Independent High Authority for Elections, appointing many of its members himself.
The body, which would oversee the referendum and elections, was one of the last remaining independent institutions in the country.
The authority's president Nabil Baffoun decried the move, saying the body was no longer independent.
“It has become the president's commission,” he said.
List of alleged parties
May 15 2020: PM and Carrie attend 'work meeting' with at
least 17 staff members
May 20 2020: PM and Carrie attend 'bring your own booze'
party
Nov 27 2020: PM gives speech at leaving do for his staff
Dec 10 2020: Staff party held by then-education secretary
Gavin Williamson
Dec 13 2020: PM and Carrie throw a flat party
Dec 14 2020: London mayor candidate Shaun Bailey holds staff party at Conservative
Party headquarters
Dec 15 2020: PM takes part in a staff quiz
Dec 18 2020: Downing Street Christmas party
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BULKWHIZ PROFILE
Date started: February 2017
Founders: Amira Rashad (CEO), Yusuf Saber (CTO), Mahmoud Sayedahmed (adviser), Reda Bouraoui (adviser)
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: E-commerce
Size: 50 employees
Funding: approximately $6m
Investors: Beco Capital, Enabling Future and Wain in the UAE; China's MSA Capital; 500 Startups; Faith Capital and Savour Ventures in Kuwait
Roll of honour 2019-2020
Dubai Rugby Sevens
Winners: Dubai Hurricanes
Runners up: Bahrain
West Asia Premiership
Winners: Bahrain
Runners up: UAE Premiership
UAE Premiership
Winners: Dubai Exiles
Runners up: Dubai Hurricanes
UAE Division One
Winners: Abu Dhabi Saracens
Runners up: Dubai Hurricanes II
UAE Division Two
Winners: Barrelhouse
Runners up: RAK Rugby
What it means to be a conservationist
Who is Enric Sala?
Enric Sala is an expert on marine conservation and is currently the National Geographic Society's Explorer-in-Residence. His love of the sea started with his childhood in Spain, inspired by the example of the legendary diver Jacques Cousteau. He has been a university professor of Oceanography in the US, as well as working at the Spanish National Council for Scientific Research and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Biodiversity and the Bio-Economy. He has dedicated his life to protecting life in the oceans. Enric describes himself as a flexitarian who only eats meat occasionally.
What is biodiversity?
According to the United Nations Environment Programme, all life on earth – including in its forests and oceans – forms a “rich tapestry of interconnecting and interdependent forces”. Biodiversity on earth today is the product of four billion years of evolution and consists of many millions of distinct biological species. The term ‘biodiversity’ is relatively new, popularised since the 1980s and coinciding with an understanding of the growing threats to the natural world including habitat loss, pollution and climate change. The loss of biodiversity itself is dangerous because it contributes to clean, consistent water flows, food security, protection from floods and storms and a stable climate. The natural world can be an ally in combating global climate change but to do so it must be protected. Nations are working to achieve this, including setting targets to be reached by 2020 for the protection of the natural state of 17 per cent of the land and 10 per cent of the oceans. However, these are well short of what is needed, according to experts, with half the land needed to be in a natural state to help avert disaster.
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The specs
Engine: 4-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: nine-speed
Power: 542bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: Dh848,000
On sale: now
