He clenched his fist and held it up victoriously. On Tuesday this week, President Kais Saied in Tunisia could celebrate his new, almost unlimited power. Around him, Tunisians happily sang that “the people will repair the country”. President Kais Saied has made sure to give himself more power this week. That worries experts, who believe that democracy in the country is in danger. Photo: Johanna Geron / AP A referendum on the same day had given the president what he wanted. The constitution must be changed. That 76 percent of the Tunisian people did not vote, he did not care. Own the critical voices that warn against a new dictatorship. The opposition boycotted the referendum. – We want a real democracy and not just a formality, as we have had for decades. The people will get their prosperity back and those who have committed crimes against the Tunisian people must be brought to justice, President Kais Saied said when the result was clear. Not all Tunisians are in favor of the new amendment to the constitution. These protesters are strongly opposed and believe that the referendum should not be considered valid. – Slaves under a dictator Opposition politicians have called the whole thing a “coup” and a “crime against democracy and Tunisia”. The “most democratic country in the Arab world”, the country with the vegetable seller who set fire to himself and the entire Arab Spring in 2010, is about to collapse, several claim. – I don’t want to see my children living as slaves under a dictator, protester Amna Fehty told Al Jazeera before the referendum was held on Monday. The vote took place exactly one year after the same President Saied fired the prime minister, dismissed the parliament and began to rule the country by decree, with extensive use of emergency powers. No to electoral fraud, was the message from demonstrators who took to the streets before the referendum on constitutional change in Tunisia. It was expected that President Saied would win the referendum. Photo: ZOUBEIR SOUISSI / Reuters Not writing off democracy – I think it is too early to write off democracy in Tunisia. This is probably rather a turning point in the development of democracy, says Joachim Nahem to news’s radio program Urix on Saturday. Nahem previously worked for the UN in Tunisia, but is now director of the company Position Green. He emphasizes that the criticism of some of the changes is justified. – The controversies lie in the fact that the constitution is being changed quite radically, he says. – Power is transferred from a popularly elected parliament to a president who will exercise more power and be controlled to a lesser extent by both parliament and the courts. Joachim Nahem does not think this week’s developments in Tunisia are the end of democracy in the country. Photo: Ole Berg-Rusten / NTB – A lot of apathy among Tunisians The new democracy in Tunisia has not brought with it a higher standard of living, better economic times and development in particularly rural areas, according to Joachim Nahem. – I think what is important for Tunisians is to speed up the economy. If democracy can do it, of course they are for it. He thinks there is a lot of apathy among Tunisians now. – For most people, this probably appears as an elite debate with changes to the constitution, says Nahem. The Shansmin revolution in Tunisia started in 2010 and led to the hated president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali fleeing the country. The people demanded democratic reforms. But Tunisia again faced a possible civil war. Terrorist actions and several political murders threatened the democratic process. The tourists were scared away and extremist groups such as IS gained wind in their sails. Four organizations did decisive work for a new democracy. The so-called Tunisian Dialogue Quartet had also been conflict mediators and received the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts in 2015. The year before, Tunisia got a brand new constitution, with equal rights for women and men. It was changed this week. Tunisia’s former dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali (left) poses with, among others, Libya’s former dictator Muammar Ghaddafi (second fh) and Egypt’s former dictator Hosni Mubarak (right) during an Arab-African summit in Libya in October 2010. Photo: Khaled Desouki / AFP
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The law professor and president (64) has secured almost all power – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
