Daily follow-up of the constitution debate
In this series of reports Jasmine Foundation’s team will be summarizing the discussions of the draft Tunisian constitution, put before the plenary of the National Constituent Assembly on Friday 3rd January for final discussion and voting. The process is expected to take 10 days according to the timetable set out in the Roadmap agreed under the National Dialogue, which aims to have the constitution, an election authority and date, and a new government in place by 14 January 2014 – the third anniversary of the Tunisian revolution.
Follow Jasmine Foundation’s updated version of the draft constitution as it is amended and voted on – the text below the summary shows what has been adopted so far in the draft, including all amendments passed.
Day 1: Friday 3rd January 2014
Today marked a long-awaited moment in Tunisia’s arduous democratic transition. After two years of drafting, the fourth and final draft of the constitution will finally be debated and voted on in the plenary. The draft is the result of work by 6 assembly committees… Continue
Day 2: Saturday 4th January 2014
The plenary debate around the constitution resumed on Saturday morning at 10:25 with the commencement of discussions of the first chapter on “General Principles”. After the procedural confusion that had accompanied … Continue
Day 3: Sunday 5th January 2014
After achieving a relativey swift pace of discussion on Saturday, Sunday brought very little progress on the discussion of the draft constitution and the spectre of deadlock once again in the Assembly. The announcement… Continue
Day 4: Monday 6th January 2014
Following a busy evening session that ended at 10 p.m. on Sunday night, the National Constituent Assembly plenary resumed on Monday at 11.30 a.m. after morning meetings of the Consensus Committee and the ISIE nominations… Continue
Day 5: Tuesday 7th January 2014
The National Constituent Assembly continued its progress through Chapter Two of the draft constitution on Rights and Liberties. A number of significant provisions were adopted recognizing and obligating the state to ensure… Continue
Day 6: Wednesday 8th January 2014
Wednesday witnessed the arrival of the vote by the National Constituent Assembly on the composition of the new High Commission for Elections (Instance Superieure Independante pour les Elections, ISIE), … Continue
Day 7: Thursday 9th January 2014
The Assembly witnessed yesterday a mix of heated scenes and recriminations, as well as a final vote on presidency of the Independent High Commission for Elections on Thursday. The morning plenary began with… Continue
Day 8: Friday 10th January 2014
The plenary kicked off at 11:15 on the morning of Friday 10th January, launching straight into the middle of a vote on a proposed amendment to add a new article to the end of Chapter Two, protecting the right to work … Continue
Day 9: Saturday 11th January 2014
After the heated scenes of Friday evening, the plenary started at midday on Saturday following meetings of the Consensus Committee and parliamentary blocs. The plenary began with a request to return to article 54 which had been adopted… Continue
Day 10: Sunday 12th January 2014
Following the raucous scenes of Saturday that had ended with the adjournment of Saturday’s session, Sunday’s session opened with an apology from Samia Abbou (CPR) for having attacked Ennahdha Party over the consensual… Continue
Day 11: Monday 13th January 2014
The National Constituent Assembly entered its eleventh day of discussion of the constitution on Monday after a long debate the previous evening over the division of executive powers. The dividing line between the … Continue
Day 14: Thursday 16th January 2014
The Assembly resumed its plenary discussions of the draft constitution after long private meetings between blocs on Wednesday – some as long as six hours – had prevented a plenary being held for the first time since… Continue
Day 15: Friday 17th January 2014
The plenary commenced at 11am on Friday 17th January with continuation of the discussions around the powers of the Constitutional Court. The remaining articles 118 to 121 on the procedures for examination… Continue
Day 16: Saturday 18th January 2014
The plenary commenced Chapter Seven of the draft constitution on local government. The discussion centred around the important of decentralization in making citizens aware of their role in governance … Continue
Day 17: Sunday 19th January 2014
Monday’s plenary began in an atmosphere of hushed anticipation as the National Constituent Assembly glimpsed the end of its discussion of the draft constitution, which has been two years in the making… Continue
The last plenary of the Assembly began with the sad news of the death of deputy Mohamed Allouch, who died the previous night of a heart attack. Deputies’ sadness was palpable throughout the process of adoption of the final articles of the constitution.… Continue
IRI POLL: Tunisia’s democratic transition at a crossroads
Summary of Day 11, 13th January: Assembly Adopts Executive Powers but Disagrees over Judicial Appointments
