The Tunisian president said in a statement that Islam is no longer the religion of the government in the country’s new constitution, which is to be put to a referendum.
According to Pak Sahafat News Agency, quoted by IRNA from AFP, “Qais Saeed” said: In the new constitution, we will not talk about a government whose religion is Islam, but we will talk about a nation whose religion is Islam. The ummah is different from the government.
The Tunisian president on Monday received a draft of the country’s new constitution, which he is expected to approve before the referendum on July 25th.
Al-Sadiq Balaid, co-ordinator of the National Consultative Committee for the drafting of a new constitution in Tunisia, had previously said that a draft constitution would be presented to the president that would not name Islam as the state religion and would be aimed at confronting parties with Islamic authority is like the Ennahda movement.
The first chapter of the Tunisian constitution, drafted in 2014, emphasizes that Tunisia is a free, independent and sovereign country, and that Islam is the religion of the country, its language is Arabic, and its system is based on a republic.
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Regarding the nature of government mentioned in the new constitution, the Tunisian president said: “It is not a question of whether the system is presidential or parliamentary, but it is important that the government belongs to the nation.”
The new constitution is set to replace the 2014 constitution, which created a mixed structure and system that led to frequent clashes between the executive and the legislature.
On July 25, 2021, Tunisian President Qais Saeed took a series of extraordinary measures, announcing the abolition of parliament, the abolition of parliamentary immunity, the dissolution of the Constitutional Review Board, and the removal of the government. He faced a wave of opposition and protests from political parties and currents, especially the Ennahda movement in this country.
Opponents of Qais Saeed accuse him of plotting a coup against the democratic achievements of the 2011 uprising that ousted then-Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, but Qais Saeed says his actions are legal and necessary to save Tunisia from a long-running political crisis.
Despite opposition from Tunisian political parties and currents, Tunisian President Qais Saeed has called on voters to take part in a referendum on the country’s new constitution.