Ibrahim Bouderbala, dean of Tunisian lawyers and head of the Consultative Committee for Economic and Social Affairs - one of the committees that supervised the drafting of proposals for the new draft constitution - said that the political system in Tunisia will turn into a presidential one.
Bouderbala confirmed - in an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera Net - that if the new draft constitution is approved during the upcoming referendum on July 25, it will contribute significantly to clarifying the political and economic path for Tunisia in the future.
Dialog text:
In the beginning, who is Ibrahim Bouderbala?
He is a lawyer who practiced the legal profession for about 5 decades and assumed several responsibilities in the structures of the profession and became dean of lawyers during this tenure. According to Presidential Decree 30 of 2022 updated to the advisory body supervising the preparation of the new draft constitution, he was assigned to chair the advisory committee for economic and social affairs that drafted the proposals for the draft constitution.
What is the purpose of the president's direction to draft a new constitution?
What is your take on the 2014 constitution?
The 2014 constitution approved a revised presidential or parliamentary system, and this system caused political life to stumble and a power struggle between the two heads of the executive branch.
That is, between the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister, as well as the humiliation of parliamentary life and the deterioration of the economic and social situation, which prompted the President of the Republic to take exceptional measures on July 25, 2021.
How do you view the boycott of the Labor Union, the largest influential trade union in the country, and the failure to involve political components in the work of the advisory committees supervising the writing of the constitution?
The failure of the labor union to participate in the work of the advisory committees to write the draft constitution is in fact a matter of regret.
In any case, the labor union has its own structures and institutions that decided not to participate, unlike the rest of the organizations that participated in a positive way, and their role was active and positive in formulating the proposals for the draft constitution.
But does this not affect the credibility of the national dialogue and the draft constitution itself?
The final credibility of the constitution will be decided on the day of the referendum by the percentage of participation and the percentage of support.
How long did you spend writing the constitution?
Our work started from the 4th of June to the 20th of the same month.
Is this not a time limit for writing the country's constitution?
Indeed, we were complaining about the pressure of time, but everyone who participated in preparing the papers within the Economic and Social Consultative Committee did a good job, and despite the pressure of time, the advisory body supervising the writing of the constitution completed its work on time and submitted the draft constitution to the president on June 20.
What is the fact that the Legal Advisory Committee did not hold any working session due to the refusal of the deans of law schools to participate in the drafting of a new constitution?
What I can confirm is that communication with all committees took place in person and from a distance, with the participation of qualified professors in constitutional law, headed by the head of the “Consultative Body for a New Republic” supervising the drafting of the constitution, Brigadier General Sadiq Belaid;
He is a former dean of the Faculty of Law for 50 years and has academic and scientific value.
Have you, as the Chairman of the Advisory Committee for Economic and Social Affairs, reviewed the draft constitution?
How do you rate it?
It is true that I reviewed the copy of the draft before it was handed over to the President of the Republic, and it was indeed an integrated work, from the preface to the last of the transitional provisions.
Thus, I can say that the new constitution is better than the constitution of 2014, which was almost mine.
How would your position be if you noticed a huge difference and fundamental changes in the draft constitution compared to what you wrote before submitting the constitution to a referendum?
At that time, each incident will have a talk.
When the final project is published no later than July 30, we will evaluate the project;
If there are superficial changes that do not affect the substance, this is normal.
But if there are fundamental changes, then perhaps we will crack our position.
What is the extent of President Kais Saied's satisfaction with the new draft constitution?
When he handed over the draft constitution, the president did not look closely at its provisions, and therefore he took a distance of precaution. Therefore, when the president said that some chapters might be changed, this is normal, given that the president of the republic is more familiar with the opinion of all the institutions that carry out the affairs of the state.
How many chapters does the constitution include?
How did it fall into place?
The draft constitution included 140 chapters classified into 11 chapters.
What are its main new features?
Contrary to the 2014 constitution, which approved an amended presidential or parliamentary system;
The new constitution approved a presidential system.
Our approach was to determine the authority responsible for the executive authority, which in the 2014 constitution had two heads;
This created a conflict between the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister, and the ruling parties at the time were ruling and then claiming that they only participated in ruling with other parties and refuse to bear responsibility for their failure.
Consequently, the new draft constitution recognized that the President of the Republic is responsible for the executive authority, who appoints the Prime Minister and members of the government, and is responsible for success and failure, while Parliament plays the role of monitoring and accountability to achieve a balance between the executive and legislative powers.
The first chapter of the constitution is devoted to the economic and social issue, considering that Tunisia now needs an economic and social revolution and the promotion of the value of work, while preserving the state’s remedial role in order to fulfill its responsibility for the benefit of the weak, vulnerable classes, people with disabilities and special needs.
As well as its support for women's rights and freedoms.
So, has the political system changed in the new constitution from parliamentary to presidential?
Yes, indeed, the political system in the new constitution has become of a presidential nature after it was in the 2014 constitution semi-parliamentary or semi-presidential.
What are the powers of the president in the new constitution?
Were the powers of the government and parliament reduced?
Of course, in the new political system, the President of the Republic appoints the government and chooses the Prime Minister and the rest of the ministers. He is the one who determines the general policies of the state, and he is responsible for success and failure. The oversight role of Parliament has been stipulated in order to achieve a balance between the executive and legislative powers.
The President of the Republic has the right to dissolve Parliament if we reach a political incompatibility in order to return the people to take their opinion through new elections.
Our thinking was focused on making the state strong and that all institutions should serve the state and perform a function towards the state, while the people have the authority to monitor performance and appoint those who perform those functions.
In the new constitution, there is no longer a designation of the term Prime Minister;
Rather, there is a "Prime Minister" who works directly with the President of the State and plays the role of coordinator between the various ministers, while the last word belongs to the Council of Ministers headed by the President of the Republic.
Many political and civil components warned of the dangers of a return to dictatorship.
Are you not afraid of the slippage that could occur by concentrating most of the power in the hands of the president?
In the new draft constitution, the president does not possess all powers;
Rather, he will be responsible for the executive branch, while the judicial and parliamentary authorities are not under the supervision of the president.
Talking about such slips is fueled by some skepticism. In any case, we have to wait for the final draft of the constitution and wait for the applications to be evaluated.
What is the purpose of changing the first chapter of the constitution, which states that Islam is the state religion?
What was the problem with maintaining this chapter?
When the 1959 constitution stipulated that Islam is the state religion, the legislator was concerned.
It is an affirmation of Tunisia's Arab-Islamic identity against all attempts at evangelization and Christianization that the country went through before independence in 1956. Now, after nearly 60 years, this issue has become the subject of consensus and there is no dispute among the members of the nation.
Therefore, we decided to resolve all axioms by placing them in the preamble to the constitution.
Where we emphasized the cultural belonging to Tunisia, whether Arab-Islamic as a society, or humanity in general, with equality among all minorities.
In addition, the state is a "moral subject", and therefore can a "moral subject" be Muslim or non-Muslim?
And the Lord Almighty addressed humanity by saying, “O you who believe,” and he did not say to them, “O you nations.”
Why did not the text criminalizing normalization with the Zionist entity in the constitution?
Were there external pressures preventing this quote?
Mentioning the criminalization of normalization is an implicit recognition of the Israeli entity that robbed the Palestinian people of their land and rights, and we believe that it is self-evident that the Arab people stand united in defense of the Palestinian cause until they recover their land and all their rights.
The new constitution stipulates that Tunisia supports all just causes, especially the Palestinian cause.
Will freedoms be included in the new constitution, including freedom of expression, the right to union work, and the right to strike?
No doubt about it;
Freedoms are guaranteed in the new constitution according to legal foundations that will be prepared by the next parliament.
The draft constitution stipulated guaranteeing public and individual liberties, freedom of expression, and the right to union work, except within the national army.
The new constitution also guarantees the right to strike;
But it is forbidden in some sectors, such as the armed forces (security personnel, guards, customs and prison officials), and judges, because they perform a lofty function that is considered one of the pillars of the state, and it is unreasonable for the courts to remain idle.
Does the new constitution include an article to combat the rentier economy?
With regard to economic initiatives and project creation;
The new constitution stipulates that the principle is freedom, and the exception can only be made by law.
With the aim of putting an end to the bureaucratic chains and delays caused by prior licenses.
When do you expect the president to publish the draft constitution?
Do you think that the Tunisian people will participate in the referendum on 25 July to approve it?
In any case, we expect to publish the draft constitution within the specified deadlines, up to June 30th.
Indeed, I expect a strong participation in the referendum on the constitution;
Because he is the one who will determine the fate of Tunisia in the future, and therefore it is necessary for the people to participate in the referendum in order to know which way Tunisia will go.
What is your comment on the exceptional measures taken by the President on June 25, 2021, such as dissolving Parliament, dismissing the previous government, dissolving the Supreme Judicial Council, and dismissing judges?
As I said earlier;
The faltering political life and the deteriorating economic and social conditions are what prompted the President of the Republic to take exceptional measures to try to save the country.
We are certain that the path of reform and eliminating the corrupt is fraught with thorns and obstacles, but we must work to overcome them.
Is the situation in the country heading for more complexity or détente?
I think that if the new draft constitution had been approved;
It will greatly contribute to clarifying the political and economic path for Tunisia in the future.
What is your response to the opposition's criticism of the president that he seeks to return the country to the square of dictatorship and that the constitution is ready and tailored to the president?
Whoever attended the meetings of the advisory committees can confirm that these criticisms are not true, and the country's situation needs a lifeline provided by the President of the Republic to save it from its deteriorating situation.
As for wailing and crying without presenting any initiative, this will not rid the country of this situation, and therefore it is an initiative and an experiment that bears success and failure.
But the chances of success are more than the chances of failure.