Tunis — President of the Republic, Kais Saied, in a televised address broadcast Friday evening, greeted the Tunisian people on the occasion of Eid al-Idha, but devoted most of his speech to the new constitution that will be submitted to a referendum on July 25.
In this regard, the Head of State admitted in his speech that there were errors in the text of the draft constitution submitted to the referendum, a copy of which was published in the Official Gazette of the Republic on June 30. In this regard, he said, “there are errors in the form and others in the arrangement that have infiltrated the published draft,” noting that, according to him, the issue is “usual and familiar in the publication of all legal texts and judicial decisions.”
The President of the Republic announced that this evening the text of the draft constitution will be published in the Official Gazette, explaining that on the occasion of the correction of these errors, “a number of clarifications will be added to avoid any confusion or interpretation,” he said.
In his address, Kais Saied stressed that the draft constitutional text submitted to the popular referendum on July 25 “does not retract from the fundamental choices or the main principles”, as these are principles “from the heart of the revolution and the conscience of the people.”
He renewed his call to Tunisians to vote “yes” to the text of the new constitution so that “the correction of the course of the revolution and the correction of the course of history will be completed,” according to his assessment, calling, in the same context, to “protect the state, rights and freedoms, and to achieve the objectives of the revolution.”
He called on voters not to accept money from any party when recommending the next term, as happened, according to him, in 2019, stressing that he “is innocent of any funding.”
In his speech, President Kais Saied responded to what he said were the paradoxes of some by talking about the return of tyranny and dictatorship, stressing that “tyranny has gone without return and will never return, according to the constitution or any legislative decision.”
The head of state noted that those who claim to fear dictatorship are among those who “reigned corruption or tyranny under the cover of the democratic transition,” which President Kais Saied called a “fraudulent title.”
On Tuesday July 5, President Kais Saied addressed a written message to the people, calling for a “yes” vote on the constitution submitted to the July 25 referendum, in order to achieve “the people’s demands and save the state,” considering that all rights and freedoms are untouchable in the constitution submitted to the referendum.
The campaign for this referendum began last Sunday, in a context of divergent positions of support or rejection.