Politics

Tunisian President enacts new decree taking control of electoral commission

Published

2 years ago

April 23, 2022

The President of Tunisia, Kais Saied, has enacted a decree giving him control of the country’s electoral commission, promising to replace most of its members in a move that will entrench his rule, casting doubt on the integrity of the body.

In the decree signed on Friday, Saied said he would only allow three of the existing nine members of the electoral commission to stay on, while he will appoint a new seven-member panel with three judges and an information technology specialist.

The judges, according to new decree, would be selected by the supreme judicial council, a body Saied unilaterally replaced earlier in the year, naming himself as the head of the commission in a move which was seen at the time as undermining the independence of the judiciary.

Head of the Tunisian electoral commission, Nabil Baffoun, while reacting to Saied’s decree, said it was a blow to the democratic gains of the country’s 2011 revolution and meant the body was no longer independent.

“It has become the president’s commission,” Baffoun said.

Also criticising the decree, Tunisia’s biggest political party, the Ennahda which has opposed Saied’s moves since last summer, said future elections will lose credibility.

“Any elections will lose all credibility with a body appointed by the president,” said Ennahda leader Rached Ghannouchi, speaker of the parliament said.

The Tunisian leader had already dismissed the parliament and taken control of the judiciary after assuming executive authority last summer. He had also said he could rule by decree in moves his opponents denounced as a coup.

The president, who says his actions were both legal and needed to save Tunisia from political crisis, is rewriting the democratic constitution introduced after the 2011 revolution and says he will put it to a referendum in July.

Related Topics:Decree Electoral Commission Featured Tunisa

Click to comment

Politics

Zambian govt says no plan to remove Christian nation clause from constitution

Published

15 hours ago

December 10, 2023

Ifeoluwa Dada

Zambian Vice President Mutale Nalumango has maintained that the ruling party, the United Party for National Development (UPND), has adopted an inclusive approach to constitutional amendments.

Nalmango made the reiteration while answering questions before the National Assembly following concerns raised by Bwacha Member of Parliament, Sydney Mushanga, who questioned the government’s alleged intentions to tamper with constitutional provisions without engaging stakeholders.

Vice President Nalumango emphasised that the government’s guiding principles were firmly rooted in Christian values, and clarified that the government had no plans to remove clauses like the Christian nation clause.

She declared, “The government espouses Christian values, and we want to make that clear,” calling for an end to discussions based on false claims. “Christianity serves as the foundation for our values”.

She also confirmed her commitment to consultative decision-making. She stated, “Government has made it clear that it will first amend non-contentious clauses of the constitution in consultation with the stakeholders.”

In response to mounting pressures within the country following years as one- and later two-party states, the Zambian constitution was changed in 1991 to allow the reintroduction of a multiparty system.

Under the terms of the constitution, the president appoints the vice president, the chief justice, and members of the High Court on the advice of the Judicial Services Commission.

Politics

Uganda begins withdrawal of troops from eastern Congo DR

Published

16 hours ago

December 10, 2023

Ifeoluwa Dada

Uganda has started the withdrawal of 1,000 troops deployed for a regional peacekeeping mission in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

According to a statement released by the military, Uganda’s decision not to extend the mandate of the East African Community Regional Force (EACRF) past December 8 prompted the withdrawal.

At its meetings in Arusha, Tanzania, the CDF affirmed the DRC’s decision and advised the defence ministers of the East African Community (EAC) to formally terminate the EACRF’s operations in the country’s vast eastern region, effective December 8.

UPDF’s contingent spokesperson, Capt. Ahmad Hassan Kato, “UPDF will ensure to expedite the pull-out of its forces and equipment within the approved timelines as enshrined in the extraordinary meeting of EAC CDFS (Chief of Defense Forces) held on December 6.”

“The Uganda contingent urges all armed groups (in the Eastern DRC) to facilitate the withdrawal of the UPDF troops by observing a total ceasefire to allow the forces to exit the mission area safely,” said Kato.

Aside from EAC forces, the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, also known as (MONUSCO), has around 12,400 troops in the Congo, with a cost of over $1 billion per year.

Lately, there has been an upsurge in violence in Congo, DR. High rates of civilian casualties and displacement have been caused by hostilities with neighbouring countries, political violence, extrajudicial killings by security forces, and conflicts between militant groups over territory and natural resources.

According to the United Nations, more than 100 armed groups and local militias operate in the eastern DRC.