Vivien Leigh, the New York Times' Middle East and North Africa correspondent, wrote that Tunisian President Kais Saied had acquired near-absolute power over the past eight months, having sacked parliament, arrested dissidents, and ruled by decree in the name of the Tunisian people.
He called on the people - on a mission that he appointed himself - to "rescue ordinary Tunisians from their corrupt political system and exhausted economy to join a national dialogue this winter in which they help draft a new constitution."
And the director of the newspaper's office added - in her report from Cairo - that only about half a million Tunisians, out of nearly 12 million people, participated in the two-month online consultation last Sunday, according to government statistics.
She stated that low turnout may reflect problems with Internet access, as many residents do not have Internet access, especially in rural areas, but Tunisians and analysts said that many people have lost interest in Said's reforms, because his promises - which were met with euphoria after his takeover of the city. Power last July 25 - did not materialize.
"This system is fake and crazy," said 23-year-old economics student Zainab Shoshin. "In the end, I doubt that this process will lead to anything tangible. I don't think Kais Saied can really change anything."
Most people don't actually care about the political system;
What they want is to change social and economic conditions
The writer hinted that the country's economy has moved from recession to the worst, with a dearth of job opportunities for young people and the state's delay in paying public employees' salaries.
The prices of basic commodities, such as flour, sugar and oil, had risen even before the Russian war on Ukraine, which led to a further rise, because these two countries provide a lot of wheat and other supplies to the world.
She referred to the protest of about two thousand people against Said - last Sunday - in Tunis, and said that it was the latest protest in a series of demonstrations.
The writer quoted analyst Youssef Sherif, director of the Columbia Global Centers in Tunis, as saying that "most people do not really care about the political system; what they want is to change the social and economic conditions."
Cherif noted that many Tunisians initially supported Said, because they hoped he could change the course of the economy, "not because they wanted to participate in a major political project, such as the one presented to them by the president."
Amin al-Masmoudi, a 36-year-old doctor from the coastal city of Sousse, added that while he usually participated in elections and followed politics closely, he refused to register in the consultation, because it seemed more directed at legitimizing Said's ideas.
He said that if the consultation wanted more and deeper public participation, the government should have partnered with civil society and political groups.
"It looks very much like a vote of confidence in the president of the republic. He (the president) might impose something by saying, for example, that 500,000 Tunisians wanted it. And that's something that actually makes me a little scared," he said.
The newspaper concluded its report with what analyst Sherif said that the results showed the opposite, which is that Said lost the trust of many Tunisians who "do not follow what he says just because he says it."