Africa press review
In the spotlight: the draft Constitution unveiled in Tunisia
Audio 04:28
The constitutional project desired by Tunisian President Kaïs Saïed was published in the official journal on Thursday 30 June.
(Illustration) Anis Mili/AFP
By: Sébastien Duhamel Follow
4 mins
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Expected and much commented on even before its publication, the constitutional project desired by President Kais Saied was published in the official journal, this Thursday, June 30.
Ten chapters and 142 articles, to download and read in Arabic version on the
Tunisie Numérique
website or on the
La Presse
newspaper website .
A project which will be submitted to referendum on July 25, more than 9 million Tunisians
“registered in the electoral register
” will be able to vote, specifies
La Presse
according to figures communicated yesterday by the ISIE, the Independent High Authority for the elections.
As for the campaign for this referendum, out of 169 participation files submitted, "
161 were retained
“, specifies the Tunisian newspaper.
This figure includes 24 political parties, 27 associations and organizations and 110 natural persons.
A text that meets expectations
Basically, the text is more in line with what was expected.
It is not "
in total rupture
" with the Constitution of 2014, affirms Brahim Bouderbala, the president of the bar association and president of the advisory commission for the New Republic, remarks made on the radio
Shems FM
and quoted in
L 'Economist
.
He mentions in particular the setting up of a Constitutional Court made up of nine members (three professors of constitutional law, three judges and three lawyers at the Court of Cassation), but it is fashionable to recall that this Constitutional Court was already planned by the previous Constitution resulting from the revolution but that it was never put in place.
Kais Saied had also refused last year to ratify the bill that was to set it up.
For the rest, no real surprise, the new project precisely confers “
increased powers on the Head of State
”, we learn on the site of the
Mosaïque FM
radio .
The newspaper
Le Temps
also sees in it "
the bases of the return to the presidential regime
".
For him, it is certain, "
it is enough to go through the chapters and the paragraphs, to be convinced that it is the break with parliamentarism
".
A change to the reference to Islam as the state religion
And then, “
as expected
,” continues
Le Temps
, “
the reference to the Arab-Muslim identity of the state was deleted.
When the texts of 1959 and 2014 provided that "
Tunisia is a free, independent and sovereign state, Islam is its religion, Arabic is its language
", the new project no longer retains that "
Tunisia is a free, independent and sovereign state
.
The reference to Islam and Arabic in article 1 has therefore been expunged, but article 5, underlines
L'Économiste
, now provides that "
Tunisia is part of the Omma",
that is, the community of believers.
For sociologist Fethi Jelassi, it's a bit kif-kif: with this new article 5, we can always "
incriminate those who hold a sandwich in their hand during Ramadan
".
Also taken up by
L'Économiste
, the entrepreneur Lofti Hamadi sums it up as follows: Tunisia will have “
the most secular of Islamist constitutions”.
In Burkina Faso, as in Mali and Guinea, preparation for the Accra summit
The press of Burkina Faso comments for its part on the arrival of Mahamadou Issoufou.
“
Two weeks after his first visit as an ECOWAS mediator, the former Nigerien president is expected back in Ouagadougou today ,”
L'Observateur Paalga
tells us
.
“
48 hours from a new summit of the regional organization with the main subject on the agenda of the return to a normal constitutional life in Mali, Guinea and Burkina, Mahamadou Issoufou needs to put order in his notes for his report to the Heads of State
", develops the Burkinabè newspaper.
Because "
the least we can say is that the government of Paul-Henry Damiba has not changed one iota its desire to lead a 36-month transition
".
He presented his project to the political class on Wednesday, but suffered criticism from this same political class, the MPP in the lead, which speaks of "a
show to please ECOWAS
", underlines
L'Observateur
.
In any case, analyzes
Le Pays
, still in Burkina, in Ouagadougou, as in Bamako and Conakry, "
it's the political turmoil
", as the Accra summit approaches, "
to meet the specifications of the sub-regional institution
”.
And beyond the sub-regional institution, it is also up to the peoples to remain vigilant.
Wakat Sera
confirms: “
While the generals kill in Sudan, Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso, it is the colonels who give ECOWAS sleepless nights”
.
In Mali, for example, "
under the terms of the new electoral law, a soldier can claim the presidency or an elective position
!
It is enough for him to operate the moult, four short months before the electoral deadlines!
Like what, the sweepers have the will to settle in the houses they have cleaned
!
writes
Wakat
Sera.
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