Saied supporters celebrate victory in Tunisia's low turnout constitutional referendum

At least 27.5 per cent of 9.3 million registered voters cast ballots, according to electoral commission

Tunisian President Kais Saied (2-R) celebrating with his supporters the almost certain victory of the 'yes' vote in a referendum on a new constitution, after the projected outcome was announced in Tunis. EPA

President Kais Saied celebrates with his supporters on Habib Bourguiba Avenue, Tunis. The referendum was on a new constitution that strengthens the powers of the head of state. AFP

President Kais Saied supporters celebrate. Reuters

President Kais Saied supporters celebrate in Tunis after the exit poll indicates voters backed Tunisia's new constitution. Reuters

Farouk Bouasker, president of the Independent Higher Authority for Elections, in Tunis. AFP

Members of the election committee open the ballot box at a polling station in Tunis. Reuters

Employees of the Independent Higher Authority for Elections begin counting the ballots. AFP

Tunisia's President Kais Saied casts his ballot at a polling station in Tunis in the country's referendum on a new constitution. Reuters

A woman shows her ink-stained finger at a polling station during a referendum on a new constitution in Tunis, Tunisia. Reuters

A Tunisian woman votes during a referendum on the draft constitution put forward by the country's president at a polling station in the Ben Arous region near Tunis. AFP

A woman shows her ink-stained finger as she holds the Tunisian flag at a polling station in Tunis. Reuters

A Tunisian woman votes during the referendum in the Ben Arous region near Tunis. AFP

A Tunisian man votes during the referendum at a polling station in the Ben Arous region near Tunis. AFP

A woman casts her vote at a polling station in Tunis. AP

Mr Saied leaves the polling station with his wife. Tunisia is holding a referendum on a new draft constitution proposed by the president to replace the 2014 constitution. EPA

Tunisians go to the polls on Monday to vote on a draft constitution proposed by President Kais Saied. Here, a vote is cast at a polling station in the capital, Tunis. AFP

Some Tunisians see the constitutional referendum as a vote for or against President Kais Saied, whose powers would increase if the new charter is approved. AFP

People cast their ballots at a polling station in Tunis on a referendum on a new constitution for Tunisia. Reuters

In a polling station in the Ariana district of Tunis, a citizen dips his finger in ink after taking part in a referendum on a draft constitution. AFP

Tunisians vote in a referendum on a draft constitution put forward by the country's President Kais Saied. The text has proved to be controversial and citizens have their say on Monday. AFP

A member of Tunisian security forces stands guard outside a polling station in Ariana district of Tunis. AFP

Tunisian election staff assist voters at a polling station in the Ariana district as citizens vote on a new constitution. AFP

Members of Tunisian security forces stand guard outside a polling station in Ariana district of Tunis. AFP

Supporters of Tunisian President Kais Saied on Tuesday celebrated the likelihood of a vote in favour of a new constitution that strengthens the powers of the head of state and risks the return of authoritarian rule in the birthplace of the 2011 Arab uprisings.

The referendum, held a year to the day after Mr Saied sacked the government and suspended parliament in what rivals called a coup, drew at least 27.5 per cent of Tunisia's 9.3 million registered voters to the ballot boxes, Tunisia's ISIE electoral commission said on Monday after polls closed.

It said 92 to 93 per cent of those who voted supported the new constitution, according to an exit poll taken by the Sigma Conseil institute. Initial results are scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.

After the projected outcome was announced on national television, supporters of Mr Saied drove cars in procession through central Tunis, waving flags and sounding their horns, with some singing the national anthem or shouting “We would sacrifice our souls and our blood for you, Saied!”

At around 0100 GMT, the president appeared in front of a jubilant crowd.

“Tunisia has entered a new phase,” he said, according to local television, adding that “there was a large crowd in the polling stations and the rate would have been higher if the vote took place over two days”.

Monday's turnout at the polls was seen as a gauge of Mr Saied's popularity after a year of increasingly tight one-man rule and scant progress in tackling Tunisia's economic woes.

The legislative elections in 2019 attracted a 32 per cent turnout.

Without naming them, the president promised “all those who have committed crimes against the country will be held accountable for their actions”.

Many voters were from the “middle classes most affected” by years of economic crisis, Sigma head Hassen Zargouni said.

Mr Saied's move against a system that emerged after the 2011 overthrow of dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was welcomed by many Tunisians fed up with high inflation and unemployment, political turmoil and a system they felt had brought little improvement to their lives.

Turnout on referendum day was higher than many observers had expected, showing that Mr Saied continues to enjoy some personal popularity almost three years into his mandate.

“Tunisia will prosper from today onwards,” Imed Hezzi, a 57-year-old waiter, said after voting. “The start of the new Tunisia is today.”

Mr Saied's critics have warned the new constitution would lock in presidential powers that could tip Tunisia back into dictatorship. Many boycotted the vote.

The new text would place the president in command of the army, allow him to appoint a government without parliamentary approval and make him nearly impossible to remove from office.

He could also present draft laws to Parliament, which would be obliged to give them priority.

The new charter “gives the president almost all powers and dismantles any check on his rule and any institution that might exert any kind of control over him,” said Said Benarbia, regional director of the International Commission of Jurists.

“None of the safeguards that could protect Tunisians from Ben Ali-type violations are there anymore.”

The text “doesn't even envisage the possibility of a no vote”, he said.

The charter would replace a 2014 constitution that was a hard-won compromise between Islamist-leaning and secular forces.

Mr Saied's supporters blame the resulting parliamentary-presidential system and dominant Islamist-influenced Ennahdha party for years of crises and corruption.

The draft constitution was published this month with little reference to an earlier text produced by a committee Mr Saied had appointed.

Sadeq Belaid, a mentor of Mr Saied who led the process, said that the first draft risked creating a dictatorship.

Slight amendments did little to address such concerns.

Opposition parties and civil society groups had urged a boycott of the referendum, but the powerful UGTT trade union declined to take a position.

Mr Saied, a 64-year-old law professor, won the 2019 presidential election in a landslide, building on his image as an incorruptible political outsider.

He has appeared increasingly isolated of late, mostly limiting his public comments to recorded videos — often diatribes against domestic foes branded “snakes”, “germs” and “traitors”.

But he has vowed to protect freedoms and describes his political project as a return to the path of the revolution.

“The country's run into a brick wall. But today we turn a new page,” Labourer Ridha Nefzi, 43 said.

But Mr Saied's popularity is tempered by soaring inflation, youth unemployment of 40 per cent and the potentially tough conditions attached to an imminent bailout by the International Monetary Fund.