Nominal or necessary?.. Tunisian division over the credibility of the drafting committees for a new constitution

TUNIS -

The first session of the Consultative Committee for Economic and Social Affairs, one of the committees formed by President Kais Saied to draft a new constitution before being submitted to the referendum, kicked off in the capital, Tunis, amid a split over its credibility between forces that boycott it because it is "sham" and others participate in it as "guards". “The rights of Tunisians, as they put it.

Saeed had issued a presidential decree No. (30) of 2022;

Concerning 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.

President Qais Saeed formed an advisory body to draft a new constitution around which widespread controversy erupts (social networking sites)

What is the role of the Advisory Committee on Economic and Social Affairs?

The committee presents its proposals to the National Consultative Commission on the aspirations of Tunisians based on the demands they raised during the revolution, and based on the choices made by the participants in the electronic consultation that Saied launched earlier this year.

The Consultative Committee presents its final report on June 13, as the maximum limit for the coordinator of the "National Consultative Commission for a New Republic" and Professor of Constitutional Law, Sadiq Belaid, to be discussed later in the National Dialogue Committee, which will present proposals to the president no later than 20 this month.

After sealing the work of the National Consultative Commission by the President and publishing it in the Official Gazette, the most important stage in this process begins, which is the presentation of the new draft constitution to a referendum on July 25 next, to be answered with yes or no, under the supervision of the Elections Commission, whose composition Qais Saeed aroused widespread controversy by changing its composition. .

Are all parties entitled to participate in advisory committees?

According to the head of the National Consultative Authority for a New Republic, Sadiq Belaid, political parties that reject Saied's measures taken on July 25, 2021 will not be summoned. Belaid said in a media statement, "We will accept only the parties that accepted the decisions of July 25, and those who reject them will not accept him." I will only receive those who look forward."

However, he confirmed that dozens of organizations, parties, representatives and personalities were summoned to the first meeting of the Economic and Social Affairs Committee, today, Saturday, at the Carthage guest house.

Belaid gave the participants a deadline of 3 days to present their visions for Tunisia over the next 40 years and how to translate them into constitutional texts.

However, what surprised some was the inclusion of the names of cultural figures in the core of a committee that is supposed to be specialized in economic affairs.

Not only that, but some mock the statement of the head of the Advisory Committee for Economic and Social Affairs, Dean of Lawyers, Ibrahim Bouderbala, and that he is familiar with the economy "thanks to his control over his house expenses."

Although the General Labor Union announced its refusal to participate in the dialogue, it was included in the composition of the advisory committees (Al-Jazeera)

What about the refusal of the Labor Union, the largest trade union organization in the country, to participate?

In his presidential decree, President Said specified the composition of the commission as well as the three committees emanating from it, but a major player in the Tunisian scene refused to accept participation in it, the Labor Union, indicating that the dialogue through it would be "formal and advisory and intended to recommend prepared results."

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 part of them expressed their refusal to participate.

The spokesman of the Labor Union, Sami Al-Tahri, considered that the inclusion of the name of the Secretary-General of the Union, Noureddine Tabboubi in the composition of the committees, despite his labor organization’s refusal to participate in the committee’s meetings in it was a “challenge and contempt” for the union by the president, even though the union did not reject its procedures on July 25, 2021. Rather, consider it an opportunity to correct the course.

Because of the stalled negotiations with the current government, the labor union announced a strike in the public sector on 16 June, including about 160 public institutions, which puts the government in a difficult position to reach an agreement with the International Monetary Fund in its request for a loan due to the lack of consensus on the economic reforms program .

What parties exclude or boycott advisory committees?

The Islamist-oriented Ennahda movement - which led the country within ruling party coalitions from 2011 to July 25, 2021 - is the first opponent of Kais Saied and is excluded from participation and boycotted at the same time in his exceptional path, like other opposition parties such as the Heart of Tunisia Party, the Dignity Coalition and the Tunis Movement Will.

Ennahda sees the advisory committees as "lost credibility".

Parties such as the Democratic Current, the Republican Party, Ettakatol, Al-Massar, Al-Qutb, Afaq Tounes, and the Workers’ Party view the advisory committees as “sham” whose aim is to give false legitimacy to the “coup” against the 2014 constitution, excluding the government and undermining democratic institutions, as they put it.

Political activist and former deputy, Hatem Al-Maliki, told Al Jazeera Net that, despite being summoned for dialogue, he decided not to participate because President Saeed chose in Decree (30) to form advisory committees whose work is secret.

Considering that this "does not reflect a real participatory dialogue and reflects the president's lack of interest in the economic and social issue despite the crises."

Al-Maliky believes that the labor union's failure to participate in the dialogue will have negative repercussions on the general situation, criticizing at the same time the invocation of cultural and artistic personalities to formulate future economic and social policies for the country.

"This proves the formality and formality that the president is adopting towards the economic and social issue," he said.

In turn, the leader of the Arab Democratic Current Party Al-Jalassi expressed to Al-Jazeera Net his refusal to participate in advisory committees, "whose decisions are not binding and seek to give false legitimacy to the president's project," also criticizing the formation of an advisory committee of "incompetent" members in the economy and finance, as he described it.

What is the opinion of the parties participating in the work of the Advisory Committee for Economic and Social Affairs?

Several personalities, organizations and political parties agreed to participate in the work of the advisory committee, such as the National Union of Tunisian Women, the Tunisian League for the Defense of Human Rights, the People's Movement, the Popular Current, the Struggle Movement, and others.

The head of the National Union of Tunisian Women, Radhia Jerbi, told Al Jazeera Net that the union's acceptance of participation in the committees, despite being aware of their advisory nature, resulted from its quest to be a "guardian" of the rights and freedoms of citizens, especially women who suffer discrimination and unequal opportunities in economic and social rights, according to her opinion.

Al-Jarbi firmly believes that the proposals that will be presented during the work of the advisory committees will not be just an opinion that is left aside, but will be influential in the outputs of the work of the committees, useful that the Women’s Union will work according to its responsibility and conscience in defending women, and no one will force it to write things for the benefit of a person or a political party.

She added that the task of the Advisory Committee for Social and Economic Affairs is not to write an economic program for the state, but to formulate general policies to consolidate rights and freedoms.

In turn, political activist Ahmed Al-Kahlawi accepted to participate in the advisory committees "as an open entrance for the various components of society to express their opinion on the contents of the new constitution," stressing that the president has no intention of seizing power, but rather to correct the course of the country, whose situation has deteriorated dangerously during the past decade, according to him.