- Crude stable after Israel-Iran surge, Hong Kong stocks resume gains
- Hera spacecraft to probe asteroid deflected by defence test
- US dockworkers to head back to work after tentative deal
- After Helene's destruction, North Carolina starts to rebuild
- Dockers end three-day strike at Montreal port
- What next for OpenAI after $157 billion bonanza?
- Israel-Hamas war causes 86-percent dive in Gaza GDP: IMF
- Milan's Morata moves house after Inter-fan town mayor 'violates' privacy
- 'Devastating' storm hits Augusta National but Masters will go on
- Relief in Brazil, Asia over delay to EU deforestation rules
- Oil prices jump, stocks fall on Middle East tensions
- Biden says 'discussing' possible Israeli strikes on Iran oil facilities
- Oil prices rise, stocks fall on Middle East tensions
- Oil rallies, stocks mostly retreat on Middle East tensions
- Phasing out teen smoking could save 1.2 mn lives: study
- 'Welcome relief': Asia producers hail EU deforestation law delay
- Japan PM slated to announce plans for 'happiness index'
- Turkish inflation falls less than expected in September at 49.4%
- Easing inflation lifts profit at UK supermarket Tesco
- Skiing calls on UN climate science to combat melting future
- China wine industry looks to breed climate resilience
- Tokyo rallies on weak yen, Hong Kong drops after surge
- Dutch airline KLM unveils 'firm' cost-cutting measures
- Carpe diem: the Costa Rican women turning fish into fashion
- Senegal looks to aquaculture as fish stocks dwindle
- Will AI one day win a Nobel Prize?
- Climate change, economics muddy West's drive to curb Chinese EVs
- Argentina's Milei vetoes university budget after huge protests
- TotalEnergies plans to grow oil and gas production until 2030
- 2024 Nobels offer glimmer of hope as global crises mount
- Tokyo rallies on weak yen, Hong Kong reverses after surge
- Tunisia readies for vote as incumbent Saied eyes victory
- High childcare costs in US weigh on women's employment
- US voters seek help with crushing childcare costs
- Taiwan shuts down for second day as Typhoon Krathon to land
- Supercharged storms: how climate change amplifies cyclones
- Biden official urges talks as US port strike enters second day
- Huge protests in Argentina over public university cuts
- Rally in oil prices loses steam on mixed day for global stocks
- South America treated to rare 'ring of fire' eclipse
- Biden official says port strike deal not as far as parties think
- Mexico's new president offers apology for 1968 student massacre
- Historic funding round values OpenAI at $157 billion
- Mixed US car sales in Q3 as industry hopes for post-election bounce
- Thunderstorms are a 'boiling pot' of gamma rays, scientists find
- Scientists unlock secret of 'Girl With Pearl Earring'
- Dolphins flash friendly grins when they're ready to play
- Facing backlash, EU moves to delay deforestation rules
- US private sector adds more jobs than expected in September: ADP
- Boys out of critical condition after Zurich stabbings
SCS | -1.98% | 12.62 | $ | |
RBGPF | 100% | 58.93 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.16% | 24.89 | $ | |
NGG | -2.7% | 66.97 | $ | |
AZN | -2.12% | 77.93 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.16% | 24.74 | $ | |
GSK | -2.81% | 38.37 | $ | |
RIO | -1.42% | 69.83 | $ | |
RYCEF | 1.15% | 6.98 | $ | |
BTI | -2.45% | 35.11 | $ | |
BCC | -0.9% | 138.29 | $ | |
RELX | -1.46% | 46.61 | $ | |
VOD | -0.52% | 9.69 | $ | |
BCE | -1.77% | 33.84 | $ | |
JRI | -0.6% | 13.3 | $ | |
BP | 0.28% | 32.46 | $ |
Tunisia president hails vote set to bolster rule
President Kais Saied said Tunisia had "entered a new phase" on Tuesday with a new constitution almost certain to pass in a referendum, concentrating almost all powers in his office.
Monday's referendum came a year to the day after Saied sacked the government and suspended parliament in a dramatic blow to the only democracy to have emerged from the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings.
There had been little doubt the "Yes" campaign would win, and an exit poll suggested that votes cast -- just a quarter of the 9.3 million electorate -- were overwhelmingly in favour.
Most of Saied's rivals called for a boycott, and while turnout was low, it was higher than the single figures many observers had expected -- at least 27.5 percent according to the electoral board, controlled by Saied.
"Tunisia has entered a new phase," Saied declared as he addressed celebrating supporters in downtown Tunis hours after polling stations closed.
"What the Tunisian people did... is a lesson to the world, and a lesson to history on a scale that the lessons of history are measured on," he said.
The National Salvation Front, a coalition of Saied's main opponents, said the draft constitution would enshrine in a "coup d'etat" and that "75 percent of Tunisians have refused to approve a putschist project".
Saied, a 64-year-old law professor, dissolved parliament and seized control of the judiciary and the electoral commission on July 25 last year.
His opponents say the moves aimed to install an autocracy over a decade after the fall of dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, while his supporters say they were necessary after years of corruption and political turmoil.
- Unchecked powers -
A poll of "Yes" voters by state television suggested "reforming the country and improving the situation" along with "support for Kais Saied/his project" were their main motivations for backing the constitution.
Thirteen percent cited being "convinced by the new constitution".
Rights groups and legal experts have warned that the draft gives vast, unchecked powers to the presidency, allow him to appoint a government without parliamentary approval and make him virtually impossible to remove from office.
The charter "gives the president almost all powers and dismantles any check on his rule," Said Benarbia, regional director of the International Commission of Jurists told AFP.
"None of the safeguards that could protect Tunisians from Ben Ali-type violations are there anymore," he added.
Saied has repeatedly threatened his enemies in recent months, issuing video diatribes against unnamed foes he describes as "germs", "snakes" and "traitors".
On Monday, he promised "all those who have committed crimes against the country will be held accountable for their actions".
Tunisia expert Youssef Cherif tweeted Tuesday that "most people voted for the man, or against his opponents, but not for his document."
- 'Back on the rails' -
Analyst Abdellatif Hannachi said the results meant Saied "can now do whatever he wants without taking anyone else into account."
"The question now is: what is the future of opposition parties and organisations?"
As well as remaking the political system, Monday's vote was seen as a gauge of Saied's personal popularity, almost three years since the political outsider won a landslide in Tunisia's first democratic direct presidential election.
Hassen Zargouni, head of the Sigma Conseil group that gave the exit poll, said of the 7,500 voters questioned, 92-93 percent of them were in the "Yes" camp.
The turnout, projected at around 22 percent, was "quite good" given about two million people have been automatically added to electoral rolls since the 2019 legislative elections, he told AFP.
Participation in elections has gradually declined since the 2011 revolution, from just over half in a parliamentary poll months after Ben Ali's overthrow to 32 percent in 2019.
Those who voted "Yes" on Monday did so primarily to "put the country back on the rails and improve the situation," Zargouni said.
Y.Ibrahim--CPN