Politics

Tunisian activists pick holes in new Constitution as it establishes dictatorship under President Saied

Published

2 years ago

July 2, 2022

Tunisian activists have picked holes in the proposed constitution presented to President Kais Saied by a committee he had set up to come up with the draft.

The draft of the constitution which was published in Tunisia’s official gazette late on Thursday, will be voted on in a referendum on July 25, and if passed, will replace the 2014 constitution Saied discarded a year ago after dissolving the parliament.

While dissecting the new draft in debates on social media on Friday, majority of the activists said the new constitution would establish a dictatorship under Saied.

One of the most debated issues in the proposed constitution was the alleged use of ambiguous words in the terms and articles, with particular reference to the use of a word, Taghraa, which the activists claim refers to stamps used by former sultans and kings.

In the context of the new era, the activists claimed that Saied might be referring to ruling the country through presidential decrees.

The Tunisian activists are also worried that the text of the constitution gives Saied ultimate authority over the government and judiciary which stipulates that the government would answer to the president and not to parliament.

The new constitution also allows Saied to present draft laws, have sole responsibility for proposing treaties and drafting state budgets, appoint or sack government ministers and appoint judges.

The president would also serve two terms of five years each, but extend them if he feels there was an imminent danger to the state, and would have the right to dissolve parliament, while no clause allows for the removal of a president.

The proposed constitution also stipulates that the president would be the head of the armed forces and be charged with naming judges, who would be banned from striking, which the activists say would be dangerous to civil rule.

Another issue the activists did not find comfortable was in the first article of the document which removes references to both Islam and the civilian nature of Tunisia, and simply saying that the country is a free, independent and sovereign state.

Click to comment

Politics

Mozambique: Ruling FRELIMO announces Chapo as presidential candidate

Published

22 hours ago

May 7, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Daniel Chapo has announced that he will run for president in the October election on behalf of the ruling FRELIMO party in Mozambique.

Since achieving independence in 1975, FRELIMO has ruled the nation in southern Africa, and the party is hoping that Chapo can lead it to another win in the election on October 9.

“The soap opera of speculation is over, including speculation about the third term,” President Filipe Nyusi said on state television on Sunday, dismissing the prospect of contesting elections again.

“We must all unite around comrade Daniel Francisco Chapo, in the demanding march towards electoral victory next October,” Nyusi said.

The president of Mozambique is limited to two terms of five years by the constitution. Nevertheless, following his reelection as party leader in 2022, there had been conjecture in the media that Nyusi may run for a third term.

Chapo, a relatively unknown person in national politics, is the governor of the province of Inhambane in southern Mozambique. As to the party announcement, he secured 225 votes (about 94%) from the central committee of the party.

“We are going to work with all social strata,” Chapo said on television after his win.

Chapo, a former radio host, was born in 1977, making him the first candidate for FRELIMO to be born since the nation gained its independence.

He has served in many governmental capacities, most notably as an administrator of the districts of Nacala and Palma. He also has a master’s degree in development management and a law degree.

Politics

Again, Rwanda denies it attacked displaced persons in DR Congo

Published

4 days ago

May 4, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

For the sixteenth time, Rwanda refuted US charges on Saturday that its troops attacked a camp for internally displaced persons in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), placing the blame instead on militants it claimed were backed by the military of the Congo.

The US State Department released a statement in which it vehemently denounced the incident that claimed at least nine lives on Friday.

There have been persistent accusations against Rwanda of providing support to the armed organizations, which has resulted in diplomatic tensions between the neighbours in East Africa.

Citing the threat that Rwanda’s surface-to-air missile systems posed to civilians, U.N. and other regional peacekeepers, aid workers, and commercial aircraft operating in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the US demanded in February that Rwanda remove its systems and all of its armed forces from the DRC immediately. Rwanda denies providing any assistance to the rebels.

According to the U.S. statement, the M23 rebel group, which Rwanda supports, and the Rwandan Defense Forces (RDF) held the positions from which the attack was launched. The United States is “gravely concerned about the recent RDF and M23 expansion” in eastern Congo.

Speaking on behalf of the Rwandan government, Yolande Makolo refuted claims that the RDF was responsible for the attack, blaming instead rebels backed by the Congolese military.

“The RDF, a professional army, would never attack an IDP (displaced persons). Look to the lawless FDLR and Wazalendo supported by the FARDC (Congolese military) for this kind of atrocity,” she said in a post on X.

Wazalendo is a Christian sect, while the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) is a Hutu organization that was founded by Hutu officials who left Rwanda after planning the 1994 genocide.

Thousands of people from the surrounding areas have fled to Goma in eastern Congo as a result of the M23 rebels’ two-year offensive, which has advanced toward the city in recent months.