TUNIS (Dispatches) -- Tunisians voted Monday on a constitution seen as a key test for President Kais Saied, who promoted the charter that would give his office nearly unchecked powers in a break with the country’s democracy.
The referendum comes a year to the day after Saied sacked the government and froze parliament in a power grab that his rivals condemned as a coup in a country known for being the birthplace of the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings.
His moves were however welcomed by many Tunisians tired of a grinding economic crisis and a system they felt had brought little improvement to their lives in the decade since the overthrow of dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
Monday’s vote is widely expected to pass, but turnout will be seen as a test of Saied’s popularity after a year of increasingly tight one-man rule that has seen scant progress on tackling the North African country’s economic woes.
Speaking after voting got underway, Saied told journalists Tunisians faced a “historic choice”.
“Together we are founding a new republic based on genuine freedom, justice and national dignity,” he said.
He also accused unnamed rivals of distributing money to persuade people not to vote, without giving evidence.
“We will not let Tunisia fall prey to those who are stalking it, from inside and out,” he said.
Some 9.3 million out of Tunisia’s 12 million people are eligible to take part, including around 356,000 who began voting overseas on Saturday.
“The biggest unknown in this referendum is the turnout and whether it will be low or very low,” said analyst Youssef Cherif.
No minimum participation has been set for the constitution to pass, nor any provision made for a “no” result.
Saied’s critics have warned Tunisia risks sliding back towards dictatorship.
Opposition parties and civil society groups have called for a boycott, while the powerful UGTT trade union has declined to take a position.
Saied’s charter would replace a 2014 constitution that was a hard-won compromise between Islamic-leaning and secular forces after three years of political turmoil.
His supporters blame the hybrid parliamentary-presidential system it introduced, and the dominant Ennahdha party, for years of political crises and corruption.
Saied’s draft for the constitution was published this month with little reference even to an earlier draft produced by a committee he appointed himself.