Tunisian President: Constitution Must Prevent Return of Dictatorship
By Samira Arabi
Morocco News Tribune
Agadir, Morocco | Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki declared at the opening of a conference-debate on the Constitution held on Saturday at Carthage Palace that the new Constitution of Tunisia should be written without any indications that might help in the the return of dictatorship, Tunisian News Agency reported.
“This requires deep reflection, good knowledge of other peoples’ experiences and pertinent distribution of powers, particularly the two heads of the executive power,” President Moncef.
The president stressed that the only way to prevent the return of dictatorship is by explicitly making sure all individual and collective freedoms in the Constitution are protected.
“The new constitution should mark a turning point in Tunisia’s history and protect the future generation from corruption, he added.
Marzouki also called to complete the Constitution in the shortest terms to meet the expectations of the Tunisian people who are running out of patience.
Calling for abandoning, in the draft Constitution, such formulas as “as defined in law”, to avoid that any restrictions of rights and liberties persist, Marzouki said “The formula entails risks since it allows judges, in the name of the law, to violate the rights of Tunisians, through they are guaranteed by the constitution,”
Academics, lawyers and National Constituent Assembly members took part in this debate organized by the judicial department of the Presidency of the Republic, the agency reported.