Late Thursday evening, Tunisian President Kais Saied issued a decision to publish the new draft constitution for the Republic of Tunisia, which gives the president broad powers. This draft is scheduled to be submitted to a referendum on July 25.
The draft constitution, which included 142 articles, stipulated that the president of the republic would assume the executive authority, a system known internationally as the presidential system, while it was a quasi-parliamentary system in the 2014 constitution.
The new draft constitution stipulates the authority of the President of the Republic to appoint the Prime Minister and the rest of its members and to terminate their duties.
The powers of the president also include assigning senior civil and military positions in the state on a proposal from the prime minister.
The president also nominates judges upon nomination by the Supreme Judicial Council.
President's immunity
The new draft constitution stipulates that the president enjoys immunity throughout his presidency and that he may not be held accountable for the actions he has undertaken in the performance of his duties.
It is noteworthy that the Tunisian president had received about a week ago a draft constitution drafted by an advisory committee headed by Sadiq Belaid, a professor of constitutional law, who is considered one of the president's supporters.
Said went on to draft a new constitution despite the opposition of several political forces, including the Salvation Front (which includes the Ennahda movement), and a group of parties described as social.
Hours before the publication of the new draft constitution, the electoral commission - whose members were recently appointed by the president - announced that it was ready to organize a referendum on the constitution.
It also announced that the number of registered voters reached 9 million.
The head of the commission, Farouk Bouaskar, said that 84,000 employees were assigned to supervise the constitutional referendum.