Tunisians shout slogans against the ruling Ennahda Party during a protest in front of the Constituent Assembly in Tunis yesterday.
TUNIS: Tunisia’s first parliamentary debate on the draft constitution was suspended yesterday amid chaotic scenes in the National Assembly, with tensions between the ruling Islamists and their opponents flaring over the long-delayed text.
The North African country’s political stability remains fragile, two and a half years after the revolution that ousted former strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011, adding urgency to the need for the new text.
But the debate, which began at around 1000 GMT, was suspended after less than 30 minutes when the presentation by the head of the drafting committee, Islamist MP Habib Kheder, was interrupted by opposition MPs who accuse him of introducing controversial articles in a discretionary manner.
Those articles exempt laws adopted under the ruling Islamist party Ennahda from constitutional control for three years, and extend indefinitely the legislative powers of the assembly while failing to draw up an electoral calendar to replace it with a permanent parliament.
Before the session was interrupted, a handful of secular opposition MPs issued a statement criticising the “fraudulent process that has affected the works of the constituent committees.”
The assembly’s deputy speaker, Islamist MP Meherzia Laabidi, strongly criticised those who disrupted the debate, which was not expected to resume before 1500 GMT. “The men of Tunisia remained seated... These were dwarfs who stood up, she told private radio station Mosaique FM, condemning the “immaturity in the ranks of the opposition.”
Several hundred people also protested against the draft constitution outside the National Assembly, which has been repeatedly criticised for its inefficiency and the non-attendance of members.
Beyond the controversial clauses introduced, some civil society and opposition activists have raised concerns that the text does not sufficiently guarantee certain basic liberties.
Amnesty International said it undermined the principles of international human rights law by giving greater legal value to the constitution than to international treaties ratified by Tunis. AFP
