Tunisia Agrees Content of New Constitution
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Tunisia's national assembly approved the final articles of the country's new constitution, three years after an uprising against autocrat Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
The assembly will likely vote on Saturday to fully approve the charter.
"Finally, we have reached this moment," Assembly President Mustapha Ben Jaafar said Thursday, as deputies chanted the national anthem in the assembly chamber in Tunis.
Following their 2011 nationwide uprising, Tunisia is close to full democracy after months of acrimony gave way to a compromise between ruling Islamists and secular leaders that contrasts sharply with upheaval in Libya and Egypt.
Tunisia's ruling Islamist party Ennahda stepped down in an agreement with opponents to break the deadlock and make way for a technocrat administration to govern until new presidential elections later this year.
The new prime minister, Mehdi Jomaa has promised to appoint a non-political cabinet once the constitution is approved. But his government must decide on economic reforms.
A newly appointed election committee has yet to decide on a date for the presidential vote, Reuters reported.
Mostly applauded for its modernity, the new constitution had been delayed by political deadlock as Islamists and opposition parties argued over the role of Islam in one of the most secular Arab countries.
