Tarek Amara, Angus McDowall

TUNIS (Reuters), Tunisia’s President is preparing to rewrite its constitution following the dismissal of parliament and rule by decree last year. He has asked for citizen input through an online questionnaire.

Only 276,000 have participated in the poll, with two weeks remaining before it ends, according to the survey site. This is amid criticisms from Kais Saied that the consultation is a fraud.

Following his protest against the elected parliament in summer 2013, the 64-year old announced that he would set up a committee to revise the constitution, with the input of the public and submit it for a referendum in June.

According to him, his intervention was in response to a decade-long period of stagnation and corruption at the hands a self-serving, corrupt elite.

Saied stated in January that “The future Tunisia lies in the hands Tunisians” and said, “It is their intense participation that will pave a way towards a new phase in Tunisia’s history based on real people will and not fake legitimacy.”

Critics of the president decry his actions as a coup which has endangered democracy that was won during the 2011 revolution that spurred “Arab Spring” uprisings throughout the Middle East.

They claim that the constitution’s public consultation is intended to make a façade of inclusion, but Saied insists on his political system. It’s the latest step towards total control.

Karim Saqaa a Tunisian law student said that Tunisia has a tendency to be one-man democracy.

Numerous political parties, including the powerful UGTT labor union, have condemned the plan. Some also said that Saied (who was a professor of constitutional law before he became a politician) appeared to prejudice the results.

He stated that it was evident from early results in January that the people desired a presidential system.

Tunisia’s foreign donors are his main opponents.

2014 CONSTITUTION HAILED AS TRIUMPH

Saied will replace it with the 2014 constitution. At that point, Saied was hailing it as a triumph for compromise and averting a dangerous period in polarisation.

It was reached an agreement when rival parliamentarians joined hands and wept on the ground of the suspended chamber.

However, the system that mixed presidential and parliamentary power was paralyzing and it failed to create a court of constitutional law to resolve disputes.

Many voters saw the victory of Saied in 2019’s second round as an act of repudiation for Tunisia’s political elite.

A group of pro-Saied volunteers set up an enrolment stall in a café balcony on a cold and rainy day, near Tunis University.

Reuters reporters who were present for one hour only saw a handful of people register.

Ahmed Kouki handing out flyers for the consultation said, “We gave our services because once in Tunisia’s past, citizens are directly being consulted about vital issues.”

The survey also asks you whether the best system for your political needs is a parliamentary, presidential or mixed one.

Another question asks if the government should prioritize electoral reform or constitutional change, or keep things as they are. Others address social and economic issues.

A banner outside Kouki’s stand at the cafe read, “Tunisia. Security, sovereignty, freedom.”

Publicity campaigns have been used to encourage the consultation by state and regional governors as well as university officials and public-owned companies.

While the Minister for Youth blamed the low turnout on technical problems and poor internet penetration, Saied accused counter-revolutionaries of trying to torpedo the process.

He suggested Tuesday that people be given free access to the internet in an effort to increase participation.

Saied’s Constitutional Tinkering appears disconnected to Tunisians’ daily reality of low unemployment, rising prices, shortages of goods and an impending crisis in the public finances.

Some people responded to the president’s internet invitation by posting on his social media account that they are online but need bread.

President Obama should be focusing on jobs, the economy. “But nothing has changed,” stated Ashraf (25), a worker at a supermarket who sat in front of the volunteers.