Thread by @o_hammady

1/7 Recently published consultative committee's draft sheds new light on president KS draft #constitution 4 #Tunisia. Discrepancies btw both show that problematic provisions are conscious choices. Below table shows revealing differences btw committee's text & president's draft

https://twitter.com/o_hammady/status/1543205350211567616

2/7 The Chair and a member of the committee that developed the initial draft distanced themselves from President's proposed text. Cf. Text of their draft, letter by the chair, Pr.Belaid, & Pr. Amin Mahfoudh: bit.ly/3IcfADv & bit.ly/3uoHV3L

3/7 One point attracted activists' and commentators’ attention: the constitution entering into force following the referendum, i.e. implicitly, regardless of the result. Understandable concern esp. when we compare this wording with the one proposed by the Consult. Com.

4/7 President KS will certainly explain during ref campaign. Meantime, 1 way of looking at it is to consider that the President -who wants the constit dated July 25th (anniv date of the Republic)- is going back to some originalist implications of the ‘pouvoir constituant' : 👇

5/7 "The Constitution, act of the ‘pouvoir constituant’ cannot b subject 2 n an act by a ‘pouvoir constitué’", i.e. presidential promulgation. "the constitution enters into force as soon as adopted by the ppl...on July 25th"

6/7 It is true that French revolutionaries never accepted a promulgation for the constit. The 1st time it happened was 1848 in a spec context, and was promulgated by the speaker...a representative of the ppl.

7/7 Obviously, the question remains: is the 25th July referendum a consultative referendum or a constitutional one? President Kais Saied communiqué this morning suggests in principle that what is considered is indeed a constitutional referendum, TBC bit.ly/3OMrhmT

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