Tunisian President Kais Saied emphasized the importance of having a legal framework regulating the relationship between the two parliamentary chambers (the parliament and the National Council for Regions and Governorates). He defended the idea of having a second parliamentary chamber following criticism from the opposition regarding the new political course, stating that such a law exists in every country with a parliament consisting of two legislative chambers, and there must be a legal text regulating the relationship between them.
Meanwhile, Tunisian opposition called for the establishment of a Constitutional Court to review the legal texts’ compliance with the constitution, as part of measures to cleanse the political climate and prepare the country for presidential elections at the end of the year. However, Tunisian authorities have not shown sufficient enthusiasm to address this issue.
On the other hand, Saied, on the occasion of commemorating the 24th anniversary of the departure of former Tunisian President Habib Bourguiba, expressed understanding of the nature of the relationship that will exist between the two parliamentary chambers. He indicated the “possibility of drawing inspiration from some comparative experiences in this direction, and deriving solutions to regulate the relationship between the two chambers, similar to the proportional committee in several countries with a parliament consisting of two chambers.”
He confirmed that the purpose of establishing the National Council for Regions and Governorates in mid-April is “to achieve integration between all regions and empower those that have been marginalized to participate in decision-making and express their will.” He added that the project is “the people’s project” that reflects their will through elections in the first council (parliament) and through the expression of the various regions’ will in the second council (National Council for Regions and Governorates).
These clarifications come in response to pressure from a group of political parties and several potential candidates for the upcoming presidential elections, which are scheduled for the end of the current year, to complete two important stages before them: the Constitutional Court and the law regulating the relationship between the two chambers, namely the parliament resulting from the 2022 elections, and the “National Council for Regions and Governorates” resulting from the recent local elections.
It is worth mentioning that the Tunisian Electoral Commission announced last Wednesday the final results of the elections for members of the “National Council for Regions and Governorates” and the composition of the second parliamentary chamber.
