| 21 February 2012 | 5 Comments
 
 

Subcommittee begins work drafting preamble to Tunisian constitution

The drafting of Tunisia’s new constitution began today with discussion of what will be perhaps one of the most divisive issues in Tunisian politics: the constitutional definition of the country’s national identity.

The first article of Tunisia’s current constitution currently names the language of the country as Arabic and its religion as Islam. With an Islamist party, Ennahda, in power, the question is whether this will be enough to define the religious orientation of Tunisia’s juridical future.

Sadok Bel Aid, Former Dean of the Faculty of Law at the Free University of Tunis, and a specialist in constitutional law, believes that Ennahda has moderated its position with regards to the religious content of the preamble. While previously, according to Bel Aid, members had wished for a reference to an Islamic source for Tunisian law, the party seems to have reached a consensus now that some version of the current first article would be sufficient.

However, from the onset of the meeting it was clear that reaching agreement concerning Tunisia’s national identity would be no small task. Hajer Azaiez, the commission’s vice-rapporteur and a member from Ennahda, casually mentioned, “We are already all in agreement with Islam being the official religion, and Arabic the official language. Why don’t we discuss the rest of preamble?”

This statement received a quick response from Taher Hmila, a representative from the centrist Congress for the Republic (CPR) party, who replied, “No – we are not. We cannot do that. We, as a republic and state, cannot have an official religion. We want to be consistent with the republican form of government.”

Issam Chebbi, a representative from the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP), later proposed including references to religion and language in the body of the constitution instead of the preamble or general principles. Maya Jeribi, secretary general of the PDP, agreed with Chebbi’s proposition.

The Congress for the Republic (CPR) party, which has formed an alliance with Ennahda and the center-left Ettakatol party, seemed to be in agreement that a reference to Islam within the opening clauses of the constitution was not a foregone conclusion.

Rafik Telili, a member of the CPR, argued that the preamble should affirm the state’s civic character. “We need to make it clear that minorities will be protected. We need to say that our relations with Jews, for example, are peaceful,” he said.

Another member from the CPR, Mabrouka Mbarek, suggested that the constitution use a declaration of human rights as the preamble’s point of reference instead of ‘Islamic values,’ since it would hold more collective weight. “The revolution was triggered because of socioeconomic constraints, not religious values. Freedom of religion is only one facet of their demands,” she said.

Bel Aid did not believe that foregoing any reference to religion in the preamble to Tunisia’s constitution was a plausible proposition in a country that is ninety-nine percent Sunni Muslim. However, he felt that the religious character of the definition could indeed be softened.

“I think we could have a reference that mentions religion in light of our history, a ‘light’ version of the formulation that wouldn’t erase it. You know, even in America, on the dollar bill you have ‘In God We Trust,” said Bel Aid.

While the preamble of a constitution has a largely symbolic value, it can set the tone and color of the document to follow. The preamble of France’s constitution, for example, makes reference to the 1789 “Declaration of the Rights of Man” and establishes the states as secular. In light of recent controversies in the country concerning secularism, such as the ban on the niqab (a full-body Islamic veil), that clause would seem significant.

“Preambles can have a certain ideological value, and a certain political value, but also a certain juridical value,” said Bel Aid. He explained that, if worded properly, preambles could be “creative” of principles to follow in the constitution and could act as a guide for future disputes concerning the document’s interpretation.


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  1. Tunisia Begins Drafting a New Constitution | Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED) | 22 February 2012
  1. TruthSeeker says:
    24 February 2012 at 17:13

    There is no harm in declaring that the religion of Tunisia is Islam. Why! Simply because Islam is inclusive! I cannot be a Muslim if I don’t believe in all the prophets and the books sent down to Humanity (meaning a Muslim believes in Jesus and Moses and all other prophets). Do you see, all the fuss about religion comes from ignorance!!! Andalusia religious tolerance epitomises my assertion. Please go and visit Toledo and you will see the troika (synagogue, church and mosque)living peacefully! They were built under Muslim rule!

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  2. Afif says:
    24 February 2012 at 01:37

    The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled scores of years ago that the preamble to the constitution forms no part of the the law, and refuses to refer to it for judicial decisions. The Articles and the Amendments are the laws upon which the Court bases its decisions.

    The “In God We Trust” on the dollar was added as I recall by an Act of Congress in the 19th Century.

    Quite to the contrary, the 1st Amendment (1st clause) clearly states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
    The issue of God, has nothing to do with a particular religion, anyhow.
    If Tunisians manage to just copy and paste from the oldest Constitution—the U.S.’s that is, we are on the way to our own salvation.

    I am proud of being a Muslim and of my culture, but I reject religion as a legal criteria to bind us as country or to be used even in the preamble for the purpose of making us feel great at the expense of other Tunisians, who may be made to feel less worthy of this beautiful country. I want my non-muslims brothers and sisters to have a stake in Tunisia in the full sense of the word.
    Certainly, Judaism and Christanity form part of our society and culture and if Islam is mentioned in the preamble, so should the other faiths.

    At best, if the proponents of this idea are persisent AND sincere about incorporating the concept of religion in the constitution, they should require publicly funded religious education to all faiths. It is my understanding that Holland has followed this trend.

    We have to treat others the way we want to be treated, otherwise we have no right to accuse anyone of being racist or anti-muslims.

    Wassallamu Alaikum Warahmatul Allah!!!

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  3. skander says:
    22 February 2012 at 14:38

    I am sick of the hypocrisy political Muslims are using. They want to become “Muslim”, but not “Sharia”. There are only two conclusions I can make.
    1. They know “Sharia” is a series of confusing laws that caused war between Muslims for centuries, plus being completely outdated, like you can sleep with your female sex slaves. So knowing God won’t really send such stupidity, they don’t believe in Islam, but use it for political gains.

    2. They believe God can do no wrong and Sharia, no matter how stupid and backward it is, it’s God’s message, so they are lying when they say they do not want Sharia.

    In either case, politicians who use religion are worst than scum and no good can come from their hypocrite mouths and their greed would do no good to the country.

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    • anon says:
      22 February 2012 at 17:14

      skander, Your intolerance, borne out of ignorance is the type of attitude and un-civic arrogance which Tunisia needs to gently treat and bring the society together. The majority always have a heavy burden as they have to work doubly hard to ensure the rights of minorities. Islam as a guiding force enables that. The strange thing in Tunisia right now is that the tiny minority of secularists feel they should be able to impose their minority view on the majority it is sad but also comic.

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