PARLIAMENTARY FORUM FOR DEMOCRACY NEWS
PAGE 7
EMPLOYEE NEWSLETTER
Let me be clear right from the start. What I can do and will try to do is put a couple of not so easy questions on the table. I do not have answers to present to you. I would not dare to be so postcolonial.
Because it is my firm belief that the people of Tunisia have given their confidence to you, as active members of political parties and some of you as elected members of parliament. I think that the majority of Tunisians do believe that in a democracy you will be the ones that will have to find and present answers to those questions. In the 15 minutes, I would like to put forward 5 items that we might discuss and they all have the same bottom line or green line, the important question:“ who is responsible for choosing the solution that will be taken?”.
1. |
The constitution |
2. |
Parliament |
3. |
Separation of powers –“ trias politica” |
4. |
Justice system |
5. |
Police / law and order |
All 5 items are of course very interconnected. |
Let ‟ s start with the Constitution As I understand there is a constituent assembly at work, where the new constitution is being discussed and as my information goes it takes a lot of time and some are getting worried it will take too much time.“ Ben Jaafar, head of the Ettakatol party and speaker of the constituent assembly, said that the constitution would be complete within a year as promised before the last elections”.( quote from Reuters) I do hope that he will not follow the example of Egypt, were there was so much pressure from a specific side to finalize the process that the majority party forced an end to the discussion and more than a hundred articles were adopted in one long session, while the microphones of those voicing opposition were just shut down. That was contrary to the promise made to give the opportunity to all parties for a substantial discussion.
I have been reading your constitution of December 1959 and I can ‟ t find much that I do not agree with. art1 establishes Tunisia as a free, independent and sovereign republic, with Islam as its religion and through art2 as a part of the great Arab Maghreb A constitution is being considered the mother of all laws, or to rephrase: