■ Constitution Building Processes

Tunisia’s newly elected Constituent Assembly last Saturday, 10 December adopted an interim constitution, following five days of deliberation. The interim constitution will reestablish state institutions and allow for a new government to be appointed. It also paves the way for the election of a new President of the Republic who must be at least 35 years of age, exclusively Tunisian and of the Muslim religion.

On a chilly, bright morning on 21 November 2011, 25 people from 20 different countries filed into a large, vaulted-ceilinged room at the Montjuïc Castle. This former military fortress and prison, now a space for the promotion of peace, would be theirs for the week. They were the successful applicants to the training course Constitution Building for Democracy, offered by the Constitution Building Programme of International IDEA in partnership with the Barcelona International Peace Resource Center.

In the preceding nine months, a revolutionary wind of change has engulfed North Africa and the Middle East. It brought with it unprecedented consequences on the long established political regimes of the region. In Tunisia, where the Arab Spring – as the phenomenon has been called – originated, the 23-year rule of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali suddenly ended on January 14 when the latter fled the country as the situation spiraled out of control. On February 11, it was the turn of Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak to go, after 30 years in power; and later in August, Libya’s Muammar Gadaffi, after a 42-year rule. In Syria and Yemen, the regimes of Bashar Al Assad and Abdullah Saleh are still locked in a standoff with revolutionaries demanding not only reforms but regime change. In Morocco – a hereditary monarchy, authorities were able to avert the departure of long-serving rulers witnessed in other countries across the region by placating protesters with a new constitution. How and why was this possible? What does the new constitution mean for Moroccans? To what extent is it likely to change the future of Moroccan politics?

Libya’s draft interim constitution, which is designed to guide the country through the coming period until a permanent constitution is finalized and enters into force, is a fairly standard text for the Arab region. It is at times progressive (it provides for a number of social rights, including social security; article 8), and intrusive at others (it requires the state to encourage marriage; article 5). It calls for the institution of a multi-party democracy (article 4), but refers a number of vital issues to future legislation, leaving open the possibility that non-democratic practices may develop (it provides that the conditions under which a warrant for phone tapping can be obtained, and that rules on the organization of political parties will be determined by law; articles 13 and 15 respectively).