The referendum in Tunisia.. The electoral commission announces the preliminary results and calls for the unification of the opposition and early elections

On Tuesday evening, Tunisia's electoral authority announced the preliminary results of the referendum on the new draft constitution, and while the voices of the opposition against the referendum's result rose, Washington renewed its fears that Tunisian President Kais Saied would undermine the country's democratic institutions.

The head of the Independent High Authority for Elections in Tunisia, Farouk Bouaskar, said that the percentage of voting "yes" in the referendum on the new draft constitution amounted to 94.6%, while the participation rate was 30.5%.

In a press conference for the commission, Bouaskar announced the commission's acceptance of the draft text of the new constitution for the Tunisian Republic, which is submitted to a referendum after this result.

He said that the total number of participants in the referendum reached 2,756,607 out of 9.3 million eligible voters, and 2,607,848 voters voted "yes" on the new constitution.

escalating rejection

This comes as opposition parties and forces renewed their rejection of the result of the referendum on the constitution and called for early presidential and legislative elections.

The National Salvation Front, a coalition of opposition parties in Tunisia, accused the electoral commission of "falsifying" the turnout figures in the referendum, claiming that President Kais Saied's referendum "failed."

Front head Ahmed Najib al-Shabi said, "The numbers that came out of the electoral organizing body are inflated and do not agree with what was observed in the regions and by observers. This body does not have integrity and impartiality, and the numbers are based on fraud."

He added in a press conference on Tuesday that "the only reference to legitimacy in the country is the 2014 constitution. Kais Saied has no place left. His coup was disappointed. He must give way to general presidential and legislative elections until stability prevails."

He pointed out that the low turnout of participation in the referendum, which he said was boycotted by "two thirds" of the voters, proves "the failure of Qais Said's coup."

According to Chebbi, any commitment on the part of the International Monetary Fund with the current authority will lead to more social and political turmoil.

It is noteworthy that Tunisia requested a loan from the International Monetary Fund to help it deal with a severe financial crisis that exacerbated after President Kais Saied's monopoly of the executive and legislative authorities in July 2021.

In a speech to a crowd of his supporters on Habib Bourguiba Street prior to the appearance of the preliminary results on Monday evening, the Tunisian president said that there was a large turnout at the polling stations, and that Tunisia had entered a new stage.

He revealed that the first decision after the referendum will be the enactment of a new electoral law.

standardization of positions

In addition to the Salvation Front, the opposition's voices rose to unify positions, mobilize its ranks, and invest twice as many voters in the referendum, with a participation rate that the country did not witness in all the electoral stations that followed the revolution.

The dissolved Tunisian Parliament Speaker Rached Ghannouchi said that the referendum procedures on the draft constitution are invalid.

During an interview with Al Jazeera Mubasher, he confirmed that the draft constitution that was referendum enshrines an individual system, noting that President Qais Saeed failed to mobilize his supporters, which was evident through the percentage of participation in the referendum.

For her part, Deputy Speaker of the dissolved parliament, Samira Chaouachi, said that the Tunisian people rejected the new draft constitution by boycotting the referendum.

She confirmed that the Salvation Front adheres to the 2014 constitution, adding, in a press conference, that Tunisians will not engage in what she described as the crime committed against their country.

In turn, former President Moncef Marzouki told Al Jazeera in a previous bulletin that the Tunisian constitution that President Said proposed to Tunisians is a fake currency and that the real currency is the 2014 constitution, according to him.

For his part, the Secretary-General of the Tunisian Workers' Party, Hamma Hammami, questioned the validity of the figures provided by the Independent Election Commission regarding the referendum.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, he said that the referendum on the draft constitution had deprived President Qais Saeed of legitimacy.

He added that he is facing a president who does not recognize his legitimacy, and an authoritarian constitution.

On the other hand, the Dean of Tunisian Lawyers, a member of the advisory body that drafted the new Tunisian constitution, Ibrahim Bouderbala, criticized the Salvation Front's call for Said to resign, describing the resignation request as absurd and unacceptable.

He said in a media interview that the turnout in the referendum was expected and reasonable.

American fears

In Washington, State Department spokesman Ned Price said that Washington was aware that the new constitution reduced surveillance and reduced freedoms, he said.

During a press conference, Price indicated the concern that the new Tunisian constitution contains a weak separation of powers.

For his part, a statement issued by the Chairman of the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee Gregory Mix, the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Bob Menendez, in addition to prominent members of the two committees, considered that the referendum on a new Tunisian constitution is another troubling step by which President Kais Saied undermines democratic institutions.

The signatories indicated their particular concern about what they called the lack of a minimum turnout, and the insufficient public debate and participation by Tunisians.

The statement said that reports of the use of Tunisian state resources to induce a "yes" vote, and to prevent local election observers and journalists from entering polling stations, is also worrying.

The signatories to the statement urged President Said to work constructively with all Tunisians, end the state of emergency, and take steps to restore Tunisia's separation of powers, democratic institutions and the rule of law.