The Tunisian presidency announced today, Monday, that President Kais Saied received the draft of the new constitution from Sadiq Belaid, head of the "National Consultative Authority for a New Republic", which is in charge of drafting the constitution.

The opposition continues to adhere to the 2014 constitution, describing it as the "constitution of national unity", stressing its refusal to participate in the referendum on the new draft constitution to be organized on July 25.

road map

  • September 11, 2021: President Kais Saied confirms - during a tour of Bourguiba Street - his respect for the constitution, stressing at the same time the possibility of amending some of its chapters.

  • September 22, 2021: The President approves the implementation of decrees and maintains the Preamble of the 2014 Constitution and Chapters One and Two related to rights and freedoms.

  • November 18, 2021: Saeed confirms working on arranging a timetable for introducing reforms to the political system and then launching an electronic referendum, embodying Tunisians' demands for a "real" constitution.

  • December 9, 2021: The Tunisian president believes that the 2014 constitution is invalid and cannot continue to be enforced because it has no legitimacy.

  • December 13, 2021: The President announces a roadmap that ends with legislative elections on December 17, 2022.

  • March 30, 2022: 16 deputies hold a plenary session remotely and ratify a bill to cancel all presidential decrees and orders issued since July 25, 2021.

    • On the same day, President Kais Saied announces the dissolution of Parliament, describes the plenary session as a failed coup attempt, and pledges to prosecute the deputies participating in it.

    new constitution

    • May 1, 2022: The presidency announces the initiation of the preparation of a new constitution for Tunisia, and President Said assigns Sadiq Belaid to chair an advisory committee tasked with drafting a new constitution.

    • Presidential Decree No. (30) of 2022, relating to the creation of the National Consultative Commission for a New Republic to draft a new constitution to be submitted to a referendum.

    • The commission is divided into 3 committees: the Advisory Committee for Economic and Social Affairs, the Legal Advisory Committee, and the National Dialogue Committee.

    • In his presidential decree, President Said determined the composition of the commission as well as its three committees.

    • Despite his refusal to participate, the Labor Union was included in the composition of the advisory committees, in addition to the Federation of Employers, the Tunisian League for the Defense of Human Rights, and the National Union of Tunisian Women, in addition to the names of the deans of law faculties represented in the Legal Advisory Committee, and some of them expressed their refusal to participate.

    Repeal the first article

  • The head of the Consultative Commission for a New Republic in Tunisia, Sadiq Belaid, made statements in which he was likely to move towards removing the text "Islam is the religion of the state" from the upcoming Tunisian constitution, for which its body is being prepared by the commission of President Kais Saied.

  • May 21, 2022: Ennahda considered that the decree of President Kais Saied regarding the creation of the advisory body for the referendum was a "complete departure from constitutional legitimacy and perpetuating the coup."

  • The movement warned against attempts to repeal Article 1 of the constitution, which states that Tunisia is "the Arabic language and its religion is Islam."

  • May 26, 2022: President Said issues a decree calling on the Tunisian people to participate in the referendum on the constitution on July 25.

  • May 27, 2022: Tunisia's Salvation Front announces that it will challenge the president's decree calling for a referendum on a new constitution for the country, describing the referendum as "null and illegitimate."

  • June 4, 2022: The first session of the Consultative Committee for Economic and Social Affairs, one of the committees formed by the president to draft a new constitution, was launched before submitting it to a referendum.

    • boycott the referendum

  • June 13, 2022: The Ennahda Movement renewed its adherence to the country's constitution (the 2014 constitution) and its boycott of the referendum.

  • June 16, 2022: The Labor Union announced a strike in the public sector, including about 160 public institutions, stressing that the presidential decree on the referendum only binds those who signed it and does not bind the union.

  • A joint statement by the Republican Party, the Democratic Current, the Democratic Bloc for Labor and Freedoms (social), and the Workers' and Qutb (left) parties, followed by the Secretary-General of the Workers' Party, Hamma Hammami, announcing a campaign to drop the referendum.

  • Parties: the Democratic Current, the Republican Party, Ettakatol, Al-Massar, Qutb, Afaq Tounes, and Workers;

    It considers that the advisory committees are "sham" whose aim is to give false legitimacy to the "coup" against the 2014 constitution, monopolizing the rule and undermining democratic institutions, as she puts it.

  • Afaq Tounes announces its participation in the referendum and the "No" vote.