At Stake in this Election:        

On 25 July 2022, Tunisian voters will head to the polls to participate in a referendum regarding the structure of the government and its constitution*. These changes would shift the country away from the hybrid president-parliamentary system established in the 2014 constitution and towards a more presidential system.¹  

The question on the ballot is as follows: 

"Do you support the new draft constitution for the Tunisian republic?"² 

Tunisian voters may indicate their preference by responding “YES” or “NO” to the question.  

*These changes come after a suspension of government and dismissal of the Prime Minister by President Kais SAIED in July of 2021. While a new Prime Minister was named in September of 2021, the parliament will remain in suspension with President SAIED ruling by decree until December of 2022.³ 

Government Structure: 

• Chief of State: President Kais SAIED 

• Head of Government: Prime Minister Najla BOUDEN 

• Assembly: Tunisia has a unicameral National Constituent Assembly (al-Majlis al-Waṭanī at-Ta'sīsī) with 217 seats. 

Electoral System: 

• The President is elected by absolute majority popular vote through a two-round system to serve a 5-year term. 

• The Prime Minister is chosen by the parliament, after legislative elections, and is usually the leader of the majority party (or coalition). The Prime Minister is asked to form a government by the president. 

• In the Tunisian Constituent Assembly, 217 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system with the largest remainder method.  

Population and Registered Voters: 

• Population: 11,896,972 (2022 est.)⁴ 

• Registered Voters: 7,065,885 (2019)⁵ 

Gender Data: 

• Female Population: 5,900,178 (2022 est.)⁶ 

• Is Tunisia a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (24 Jul 1980)⁷ 

• Has Tunisia ratified CEDAW: Yes (20 Sep 1985)⁸ 

• Gender Quota: Yes. The electoral law requires gender parity on the lists, and all candidates lists presented must alternatively rank women and men.⁹ 

• Number of Female Legislators: 57 out of 217 (26.3%)¹⁰ 

• Human Development Index (HDI) Position: Rank 95 at 0.74 (2020)¹¹ 

• Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Medium at 0.1986 (2014)¹² 

Disability Data: 

• Is Tunisia a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 Mar 2007)¹³ 

• Has Tunisia ratified CRPD: Yes (2 Apr 2008)¹⁴ 

• Population with a disability: 1,655,584 (2022 est.)¹⁵ 

IFES Resources: 

• Does IFES have a presence in Tunisia: Yes, Field Office¹⁶ 

 

1. https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/07/14/qa-tunisias-constitutional-referendum#Q1

2. https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220526-tunisia-to-vote-on-new-republic-on-july-25

3. https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220526-tunisia-to-vote-on-new-republic-on-july-25

4. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/tunisia/#people-and-society

5. https://www.idea.int/data-tools/country-view/284/40

6. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/tunisia/#people-and-society

7. https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/TreatyBodyExternal/Treaty.aspx?Treaty=CEDAW&Lang=en

8. https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/TreatyBodyExternal/Treaty.aspx?Treaty=CEDAW&Lang=en

9. https://www.idea.int/data-tools/data/gender-quotas/country-view/284/35

10. https://data.ipu.org/women-ranking?month=6&year=2022

11. https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/specific-country-data#/countries/TUN 

12. https://www.genderindex.org/country/tunisia-2014-results/

13. https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/TreatyBodyExternal/Treaty.aspx?Treaty=CEDAW&Lang=en

14. https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/TreatyBodyExternal/Treaty.aspx?Treaty=CEDAW&Lang=en

15. http://electionaccess.org/en/resources/countries/?q=tunisia#tab

16. https://www.ifes.org/tunisia