A constitutional referendum was held in Tunisia on 25 July 2022 by the Independent High Authority for Elections. The referendum was supported by the Tunisian president, Kais Saied, one year into a political crisis that began on 25 July 2021.
The referendum was preceded by an electronic consultation regarding the nature of the political system and the method of voting in legislative elections. It was boycotted by many of Tunisia's largest political parties.
The question on the ballot was: "Do you support the new draft constitution for the Tunisian republic?" Preliminary results were announced from 26 July to 28 July, and the final results—94.6 percent in favor of the new constitution and 5.4 percent opposed—were announced on 28 August 2022 after all appeals were considered.
The newly drafted constitution turned Tunisia's semi-presidential system into a presidential system, centralizing the power of the president and adding powers while largely limiting the role of the Tunisian parliament.
Background
Previous constitution
In early 2013, the national Constituent Assembly was tasked with drafting and adopting a new constitution within one year of its election. A preliminary draft was published soon after, but its articles were debated one at a time in sessions in December 2013 and January 2014, significantly delaying their final examination. The final text was adopted on 26 January 2014 by the Constituent Assembly with 200 votes for, 12 against, and 4 abstentions. The following day, the text was signed by President of the Republic Moncef Marzouki, President of the Constituent Assembly Mustapha Ben Jafar, and Head of Government Ali Laarayedh during a ceremony at the Assembly's headquarters.
The final constitution was the result of a compromise between the ruling Islamist party Ennahda and opposition forces. Frightened by the military coup in Egypt that led to the fall of Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated President Mohamed Morsi—and under pressure from the Tunisian Human Rights League, the Bar Association, and trade unions—Ennahda agreed to engage in a dialogue with the opposition forces after September 2013.
As a result of a compromise between those in favor of a classic parliamentary system and those in favor of a semi-presidential system more favorable to the head of state, executive power was shared between the President of the Republic and the Head of Government. The constitution granted only limited recognition to Islam and established the goal of gender equality in elected assemblies.
Background
As a result of the highly fractured parliament from the 2019 Tunisian parliamentary election—which saw the largest party, Ennahda, receive less than half of the 109 seats required for a legislative majority—a coalition was formed in February 2020 of five parties and several independents, with Elyes Fakhfakh as Prime Minister. Only five months later, in July, the coalition collapsed when Ennahda withdrew following a conflict with Prime Minister Fakhfakh. A new cabinet of mostly technocrats was then formed under Hichem Mechichi.
On 25 July 2021, upon the collapse of the coalition government, violent demonstrations against the government took place across Tunisia to demand that basic services be provided amid the growing COVID-19 outbreak, the dissolution of the Assembly of the Representatives of the People, and a change of regime. In response to the protests and threats on his power, President Saied suspended the Assembly for thirty days, relieved Prime Minister Mechichi of his duties, waived the immunity of Assembly members, closed the offices of various foreign news agencies, and ordered the military to close the Assembly house. Saied's actions were widely seen, both nationally and internationally, as those of a coup d'etat. His actions directly disregarded Article 80 of the Tunisian constitution, which stated that the Assembly could not be suspended and that before declaring a state of emergency, the president was required to consult his prime minister and the head of the Assembly. At the time, there was no constitutional court in the nation to assess the legality of Saied's interpretation of the constitution.