94.6% of Referendum Participants Back Tunisia's New Constitution, Election Commission Approves Draft

TUNIS (Sputnik) - 94.6 percent of the referendum participants voted for the draft of the new constitution of Tunisia, with a turnout of about 27 percent. The referendum will significantly expand the powers of the president, head of the Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE) Farouk Bouasker said.

The vote took place on Monday amid sharp disagreements between supporters of the president who initiated the referendum and his opponents. Part of the opposition called on supporters to boycott the referendum. There were two questions on the ballot - about agreeing or disagreeing with the draft constitution.

"A total of 2,607,884 voters voted for the draft of the new constitution of Tunisia, which amounted to 94.6 percent. Against - 148,723, which amounted to 5.4 percent," Bouasker told reporters.

Tunisia's Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE) has approved the draft text of the republic's new constitution following the referendum, according to Bouasker.

"The Independent High Authority for Elections announces that it approves the draft text of the new constitution of the Republic of Tunisia, submitted to the referendum," Bouasker told reporters.