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The Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy

 A Seminar on

 

 

When will elections be held in Tunisia...in order  to ensure compliance with the new Constitution 

 

 

Saturday, April 26th, 2014

 CSID's headquarters (Montplaisir)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 On Saturday, April 26th, 2014 The Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy organized a seminar entitled "When the Elections will be held in Tunisia?  To Ensure Compliance with the New Constitution" at CSID's headquarters in the presence of civil society representatives and legal and electoral experts.

  

The seminar was opened by the welcoming speech of Ms. Emna Ennaifer, Program Officer at CSID. She explained the main objective of this meeting which is to ensure the respect of the constitution regarding the elections date as a prerequisite for the completion of the democratic path while stressing the need to ensure free and faire elections, in accordance with international electoral standards.

 

 

 

 The first speaker was Mrs. Soumaya Gambra, Judge at the Administrative Court and a member in the Center of Citizenship on the topic of: ''the Elections Date... a Legal Reading''. She spoke about the Article 148 precisely paragraph 3 in the Tunisian constitution which specifies that elections should be held before the end of 2014. She further provided a clarification of some data in which she tried to answer what implications limiting the deadline of elections to the end of 2014 could have. The constitution is a set of laws that establishes a state and it tops the pyramid of legal rules because it is issued by the constituent authority. Thus, respecting the date of elections is a legal obligation that is embedded in the top of the pyramid of legal rules. Delaying the date of elections would be a dangerous violation of the constitution, according to her. Moreover, she talked about possible solutions to overcome this problem, in case elections are postponed, such as a constitution amendment and a revision of the Basic Law, since the Constituent Assembly only has the assigned powers to extend the deadline for elections. 

 

Finally, Mrs. Gambra concluded by saying that these solutions as not based upon sound legal basis and could thus be criticized.

 

 

The second intervention was about "The Elections and the Negative Effects of Violating the Constitution". According to Mr.Kamel Gharbi, President of Ofiya Coalition for the Control of the Integrity of Elections, elections are a national concern and a vital issue. He emphasized that the High Independent Commission of Elections (ISIE) as well as politicians have to make efforts to hold elections on time, as promised to Tunisian people. He added that if the political class demands respect from citizens, it has to implement in turn the transitional terms agreed upon in the new Constitution, mainly the holding of elections on time. In his opinion, the High Independent Commission of Elections (ISIE) does not need to wait the Electoral Law to start procedures such as the establishment of its regional bodies. Concerning the electoral process, he believes that it should not last less than 6months and June would be the deadline to initiate work and start voters' registration.
  

 

 

The third speaker was Mrs.Sihem Bou Azza, President of the Tunisian Association for the Law of Development. She noted that the economic reform is difficult in these current circumstances because it needs a permanent elected government. In her opinion, International institutions and banks would be reluctant to help Tunisia in case it violates its new constitution. She also pointed out that Investment Law has been suspended for 6 months now and that reviewing the tax system and the minimum wage has become urgent. 

 

 

  

 

Following the statement of Mrs.Sihem Bou Azza, Mr.Nabil Labessi, electoral expert, provided solutions to avoid the risk of violating the constitution without transgressing the international standards and good practices in terms of free and fair elections. He emphasized the importance of respecting the constitution, especially that Tunisia is currently in the precarious situation of democratic transition. He regretted that the discussions around the Electoral Law did not focus on the technical side and focused instead on the political conflicts. He also mentioned examples of gaps in the Electoral Law, such as Voters' Registration Law and the Appeal Law which used to include three levels and is now based on only one. In short, to ensure the respect of the constitution and the holding of elections on time, the first round of the presidential elections should be held no later than December7, 2014,  and the second round should be held simultaneously with the legislative elections on December 31, although it would automatically bring the release of the results to January 2015.

 

 

Closing the seminar was the final speaker Mr. Anouar Ben Hassan, member of the High Independent Commission of Elections (ISIE). He suggested a virtual electoral calendar which starts with voters' registration form July 1, 2014 until the end of the month. In the same calendar, the first round of the Polling Day is expected to take place on November 23th, 2014, and the second on December 28th, 2014.

 

 

 

Atthe conclusion of this seminar, The Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy called for the need to mobilize efforts to guarantee the respect of the constitution. CSID announced the launching of an awareness campaign which consists of sending weekly SMS-starting from Monday April 28th, 2014- to the NCA deputies, as a reminder of the electoral deadline.

 

  

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