Tunis: Preparations are underway for the new constitution in the North African country of Tunisia. A draft has been prepared for this, after which now President Kais Saied has said that Islam will not remain the state religion of Tunisia in the new constitution. Let us tell you that a referendum is going to be held in Tunisia on 25 July.
President Syed said, we are not talking about a state whose religion is Islam, but we will talk about a nation whose religion is Islam and the nation is separate from the state. Syed is trying to say that Tunisia will not have any state religion but as a nation the religion is Islam.
Syed is calling it a step towards reforming the political system in Tunisia. However, his move is also being seen as an attempt to weaken rival Islamist parties.
Sadeq Belaid, the coordinator of the National Consultative Commission, which drafted the new constitution in Tunisia, told AFP news agency in an interview that he was removing all references to Islam from the new draft constitution to challenge Islamic parties. He said that the draft he would hand over to President Syed would not contain any indication that Tunisia’s state religion was Islam.
Syed was handed over the draft of the new constitution on Monday and is likely to approve it before the referendum on July 25.
Let us tell you that on July 25, a year ago, the President had ordered control of all executive powers in Tunisia.
The new constitution will replace Tunisia’s 2014 constitution
The first article of Chapter 1 of the 2014 Constitution of Tunisia states that Tunisia is an independent and sovereign nation and Islam is its religion and Arabic is its language. This is a republic nation.
The new constitution of Tunisia will replace the constitution of 2014. The opposition and human rights organizations have accused President Syed of trying to approve a constitution that has been designed to suit his ambitions.
At the same time, when asked about the government system to be adopted in the new constitution, President Syed said, the matter is not about the President of the parliamentary system. What is important is that sovereignty is for the people and everything else is for the executive. The functioning of the legislature, executive, and judiciary has been mentioned in the constitution.
