The Tunisian presidency announced that the head of the Constitutional Committee, Sadiq Belaid, handed the country's president, Kais Saied, on Monday, a draft of the new constitution.

This comes at a time when the judges dismissed by the presidential decree filed an appeal with the Administrative Court to cancel the decree, stressing their refusal to any financial compensation provided by the Ministry of Justice against the background of their dismissal from their work.

This came in a statement and a video clip published by the Tunisian presidency today, after a meeting between Said and Belaid at the Carthage Palace.

"Belaid submitted to the head of state the draft constitution that was prepared within the framework of the National Consultative Authority for a new republic," the statement said.

He added, "This meeting represented an opportunity to deliberate on a number of new concepts and ideas, as well as to discuss the course of the dialogue in the past period, and the exchange of multiple points of view that it witnessed."

The statement indicated that the Tunisian president stressed that "the draft constitution is not final and that some of its chapters are subject to review and further reflection."

For his part, the veteran lawyer and retired Dean of the Faculty of Law, Sadiq Belaid, said, "I submitted to His Excellency (the President) the draft constitution for the new republic," adding, "The circumstances were difficult due to the short time, but we reached, with the assistance of all colleagues and specialists, to draft a constitution that we hope will be satisfied by Mr. President".

A protest demonstration on Sunday against the constitutional referendum to be held on July 25 (Anatolia)

Saeed intends to present the new constitution to a popular referendum on July 25, ignoring widespread opposition from the opposition, as it is expected that demonstrations will take place in refusal to organize the referendum and change the constitution.

And the committee tasked with a decree from the president began drafting a new constitution in less than 20 days, in the absence of the opposition, which announced its boycott of the referendum.

Most likely, several chapters of the previous 1959 and 2014 constitutions were adopted, according to what a member of the committee, Amin Mahfouz, indicated.

It is not clear the nature of the political system that will be explicitly adopted in the new constitution, but the head of the committee said that the constitution will give greater importance to the economy and will dedicate a chapter in it to the foundations of economic advancement.

"Inclusive Dialogue or Ruin"

Yesterday, Sunday, the head of the opposition National Salvation Front in Tunisia, Ahmed Najib Chebbi, said - during a protest demonstration organized on Habib Bourguiba Street (center of the Tunisian capital) - that the political crisis in the country is worsening;

This puts us in front of two options, "either the comprehensive national dialogue or ruin."

In a speech he delivered in front of the front's supporters participating in the demonstration, Chebbi called the Tunisian General Labor Union for a comprehensive national dialogue, and called on its leaders to stop attacking the political forces, which he described as sincere.

He stressed that the Front will not remain neutral in the struggle for the independence of civil society organizations, and that it extends its hand to all organizations, accusing the government of failing to fulfill its promises to suppliers, which led to the interruption of a number of basic materials in the country.

For her part, Samira Chaouachi - the first deputy speaker of the dissolved Tunisian parliament and a leader in the Salvation Front - said that President Saeed is targeting the constitution because it is the constitution of the independence of the judiciary.


Judges refuse compensation

On the other hand, a judicial source told Al Jazeera that the judges dismissed by the presidential decree had submitted appeals to the Administrative Court to cancel the decree.

The head of the Association of Young Judges in Tunisia (independent), Mourad Masoudi, announced earlier today their rejection of any financial compensation provided by the Ministry of Justice against the background of their expulsion from their work, stressing that they are seeking to return to it.

Al-Masoudi added, in statements to Anadolu Agency, who is one of the 57 dismissed judges, that the Ministry of Justice wants to anticipate the "hunger strike" that the dismissed judges will start on Wednesday;

With financial compensation to absorb their anger, he added that it is expected that judges who are not isolated in support of their colleagues will join the hunger strike, and stressed, "We do not want compensation, but we want to return to our work."

Earlier on Monday, the Tunisian Ministry of Justice revealed that it had "initiated the procedures for disbursing the exemption fine for those concerned (dismissed judges), which is legally estimated at a full month's salary for each year spent at work, provided that the amount of this fine does not exceed the salary of 6 months."

Regarding the strike, which continues for the third week, Al-Masoudi pointed out that 99% of the judges are committed to it, and only a small number of judges work under pressure from the Ministry of Justice,” he said.

By a decision of the Young Judges Association, judges in Tunisia have been on strike since June 6 to protest the dismissal of 57 judges, and on Saturday the judges decided to extend their strike for the third week in a row.