TUNIS: Tunisia’s constituent assembly yesterday rejected Islam as the main source of law for the country that spawned the Arab Spring as they voted for a second day on a new constitution.
But while they stipulated that Islam as the state religion, they promised freedom of conscience, despite one MP warning that “satanists” and “idolaters” would be practicing in public and criticism by a rights group they were too vague.
The voting comes amid concerns that a January 14 deadline for the charter’s adoption may be overshot because of disruptions and the slow pace of deliberations.
It was on January 14, 2011, that ousted dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and his family fled the country for exile in Saudi Arabia.
Article 1 approved by the National Constituent Assembly establishes the country as a republic and Islam as its religion.
“Tunisia is a free, independent and sovereign state. Islam is its religion, Arabic is its language, and it is a republic. It is not possible to amend this article,” the article reads.
This was a compromise between the Islamist party Ennahda, which heads the outgoing coalition government, and the secular opposition. But the assembly rejected two amendments, one proposing Islam and the other proposing the Holy Quran as “the principal source of legislation”.
Mohamed Hamdi of the small “Current of Love” party defended Islamic law, saying it would give “spiritual backing to all rights and liberties”. But Mahmoud Baroudi, of the secular Democratic Alliance, said the proposed amendments were “against modernity”.
The assembly also adopted Article 2 — which also cannot be amended — on the establishment of a “civil state based on citizenship, the will of the people and the rule of law”. It adopted Article 6 which makes the state the “guardian of religion,” “protector of the sacred” and guarantor of “freedom of conscience.” It would also place mosques and other places of worship out of bounds to political activity.
Azed Badi, of the Wafa party, objected, saying the article would “allow satanists and idolaters to organise public events... to spread their beliefs”. But Ennahda’s Sonia Ben Toumia countered by saying “Islam is a religion that guarantees freedom of religious practice to others.” And secularist Iyed Dahmani said “those opposed to freedom of conscience want to take us back to dark periods in history when tribunals examined the beliefs of people.”
Yet the Tunisian League of Human Rights was uncomfortable with Article 6. It argued that defining the state as protector of religion and guarantor of things sacred is vague and open to interpretation, which could threaten freedoms.
Approving the new constitution will be a crucial democratic milestone. Its adoption would end months of political crisis and further distance Tunisia from the chronic instability plaguing other countries in a region rocked by regime change.
Earlier, assembly Speaker Mustapha Ben Jaafar adjourned deliberations for awhile after a leftist member started shouting, demanding that he be allowed to speak. Rowdy scenes on Friday sparked concern in the press that the deadline may not be met. Leading Francophone daily La Presse cited disputes, interruptions and procedural problems.
AFP
