TUNIS: Tunisians have begun voting in a referendum on a new constitution that critics of President Kais Saied fear will hurt the democracy that emerged from a 2011 revolution by handing him nearly total power.
Monday’s vote is being held on the first anniversary of Saied’s ousting of an elected parliament, when he established emergency rule and began governing by fiat.
Few people were out when polls opened at 0500 GMT, but at Rue Marseilles polling station in downtown Tunis, Illyes Moujahed was first in line, saying Saied was the only hope. “I’m here to save Tunisia from collapse. To save it from years of corruption and failure,” he said.
It is not clear when the results will be announced after polls close at 2100 GMT, but with little apparent enthusiasm for the vote among most Tunisians and a boycott by major parties, analysts expect a ‘yes’ vote with low turnout.
Around 9.3 million out of Tunisia’s 12 million people civilians aged over 18 have opted in or been automatically registered to vote, according to the ISIE electoral commission. They include about 356,000 registered overseas.
Under Saied’s own rules for the referendum, no minimum level of participation is needed to approve the new constitution. –Agencies
