Last Friday, Tunisia's coordination and drafting committee (CDC) handed the draft of the country's new constitution to Tunisia's National Constitutive Assembly (NCA). The assembly is due to start debating the draft in public sessions on 1 July, and copies of the draft have been submitted to the offices of the president and the prime minister. NCA President Mustafa bin Jaafar told journalists that the draft was not perfect, but that it could be improved through national dialogue as well as discussions in the Assembly. No changes will be made in the draft before 1 July, he added. It has taken more than 18 months for the draft to reach its current form, a period that was characterised by bickering and recriminations more than by harmony and accord. Even today, not everyone is happy. The Committee on Executive and Legislative Powers (CELP) said that the drafting committee had gone beyond its mandate when it introduced important changes in the draft without consulting the CELP. Other members the Constitutive Assembly, who also disapprove of the draft, have asked interim President Moncef Marzouki to refrain from signing it. They have also promised to file a lawsuit with the Administrative Court to invalidate the draft. Bin Jaafar and CDC Chief Habib Khedher are playing down the dissent, saying that they have followed standard procedures and noting that neither the president nor the Administrative Court have the power to annul the draft. Procedural differences aside, there are substantial points of disagreement with the draft. While it has gone through votes by various committees, it has failed to reconcile the secularist nature of the state with the assumption that it should abide by Islamic rules. Critics of the draft have noted that it makes no clear mention of human rights, press freedoms, or freedom of expression. These are all serious omissions with grave implications for the future of democracy in Tunisia, rights groups have said. The NGOs Human Rights Watch, the Carter Centre, and the Supreme Organisation for Audio-Visual Media, have all voiced reservations. Sections 122 and 124 of the draft have been subjected to special criticisms on the grounds that they flout international norms. A national dialogue on the draft is now underway, with parties from across the political spectrum taking part. Participants in the national dialogue have no power to alter the draft, but everything they say is noted by members of the National Assembly, which makes the debate relevant to the shaping of the draft. At several points in the past, opposition parties have boycotted the dialogue, returning only once concessions were made by the Al-Nahda-led ruling troika coalition government. But even within the troika, dissent is running high. Both the Congress for the Republic Party (CPR) and the Al-Takatol Party seem dissatisfied with the way the draft has emerged. Members of both parties say that they took part in the coalition to protect Tunisia from chaos, but they don't have to put their seal of approval on the constitution just because they are part of the current government. A number of CPR and Al-Takatol MPs share these views with the leftist opposition, a fact that adds another level of complication to the current situation. There are also fears that public debate is less likely to lead to consensus than to further disagreement. Al-Nahda seems to be the only group pleased with the current draft, saying that it is generally acceptable but could be improved. The movement is hoping to have the draft pass by a comfortable majority in the assembly, thus averting the need for a public referendum. However, Al-Nahda knows that things will get trickier if the constitution is passed by a slim majority. “The interest of the nation is that the constitution represents the largest possible number of Tunisians,” Al-Nahda leader Rached Ghannouchi has been quoted as saying. It was hoped that Tunisia would be able to write a constitution that combated violence and extremism, protected freedom, and encouraged just and balanced development. It is unclear how close to this vision the new constitution is going to be. Tunisia still suffers from a brand of religious extremism that does not recognise the state, its institutions, or its laws. Some commentators even say that it is facing the prospect of squandering its own identity in favour of personal freedoms, with the recent events involving the radical feminist Femen movement being cited as an example of “alien liberties infiltrating the Tunisian way of life.” Will the new constitution be able to reconcile much-cherished Tunisian identity with the requisites of modernity? For now, the jury is still out.
