A year after the suspension and dissolution of Parliament by the Head of State himself, just over nine million voters are being called to the polls, this Monday, July 25, 2022. A referendum on a new Constitution, a draft controversial, supported, imposed by President Kaïs Saïed.
With our special correspondent in Tunis, Magali Lagrange
In a primary school in the Bardo district of Tunis under overwhelming heat, the affluence is not that of the big days. There is no queue, but rather a coming and going of voters. The voting operation is quick, since all you have to do is tick “yes” or “no”, the green or red box, below the question: ” Do you approve of the draft of the new Constitution of the Tunisian Republic? “. Posters at the entrance to the offices explain the procedure for voting.
In the polling stations visited in Tunis, the majority of voters are over 45 years old. Young people are scarce at the moment. We’ll have to see if they come later. This Monday is a public holiday, the Tunisian Republic Day, which extends the weekend.
A voter accompanied by her husband and two children confided that she had come to vote for the future, that of Tunisia, also that of his children, so that things change. Same arguments heard in another more popular district of Tunis this morning, voters confided the importance of this election in their eyes, their fatigue often political parties and the past ten years which have for them, set back the country. Their confidence also granted to President Kaïs Saïed, a clean president, some say.
At 9:30 a.m., three and a half hours after the opening of the offices, the Electoral Authority announced a turnout of just over 6%. Participation is the main issue of this vote, but this participation rate will not change the validity of the ballot, there is no minimum threshold to be reached. The crowd should now perhaps weaken a little, since it is starting to get very hot under the blue skies of Tunis, but the voters will be able to return when it will be cooler since the offices are open until 10 p.m.