Constituent Assembly of Tunisia facts for kids

Quick facts for kids National Constituent Assembly المجلس الوطني التأسيسي al-Majlis al-Waṭanī at-Ta'sīsī
Type
Type	Unicameral parliament
History
Founded	22 November 2011 (2011-11-22)
Disbanded	26 October 2014 (2014-10-26)
Preceded by	Chamber of Deputies
Succeeded by	Assembly of the Representatives of the People
Leadership
Speaker	Mustapha Ben Jafar, Ettakatol Since 22 November 2011
First Deputy Speaker	Meherzia Labidi Maïza, Ennahda Since 22 November 2011
Second Deputy Speaker	Larbi Ben Salah Abid, CPR Since 22 November 2011
Structure
Seats	217
Political groups	Ennahda (89)      non-inscrit (53)      Democratic Bloc (18)      Congress for the Republic (16)      Democratic Transition (13)      Ettakatol (13)      Democratic Alliance (12)      Wafa Movement (10)
Elections
Voting system	Proportional representation in multi-member constituency party-lists
Last election	23 October 2011
Meeting place
Bardo Palace

The National Constituent Assembly (NCA) was a special group of lawmakers in Tunisia. Their main job was to create a brand new constitution for the country. This happened after the old president, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, left power.

The NCA was formed after an election on October 23, 2011. It had 217 members who represented Tunisians living both in Tunisia and abroad. The largest group in the Assembly was the Ennahda Movement, which is a moderate Islamist party. The Assembly first met on November 22, 2011. It finished its work and was replaced by the Assembly of the Representatives of the People on October 26, 2014.

Forming the Assembly: How it Started

When the NCA was first planned, people thought it would take about one year to write the new constitution. However, the Assembly itself got to decide its own timeline.

Before the first meeting, three main political parties — Ennahda, Congress for the Republic (CPR), and Ettakatol — made an agreement. They decided to share the top leadership roles in the new government.

Because of this agreement, Mustapha Ben Jafar from the Ettakatol party was chosen as the Speaker of the NCA. This happened when the Assembly first met on November 22, 2011. Two other members, Meherzia Labidi from Ennahda and Larbi Abid from CPR, were elected as Deputy Speakers.

Setting Up the New Government

A Temporary Constitution

On December 10, 2011, the Assembly approved a temporary constitution. This document was called the Law on the provisional organisation of public powers. It set out some important rules for how the government would work for a short time.

For example, it listed the requirements for becoming the president. To be president, a person had to be a Tunisian citizen (not also a citizen of another country). They also needed to have Tunisian parents, be a Muslim, and be at least 35 years old. Most of the delegates, 141 of them, voted to approve this temporary law.

Choosing an Interim President

Just two days later, on December 12, 2011, the NCA elected Moncef Marzouki as the temporary President of Tunisia. He was a human rights activist and a leader of the CPR party. A large number of delegates, 153, voted for him. Some opposition parties did not agree with the new temporary constitution, so they chose not to vote.

On December 14, President Marzouki chose Hamadi Jebali to be the Prime Minister. Jebali was the secretary-general of the Ennahda Movement. He then formed his government, which officially started work on December 24.

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Candidacy of Moncef Marzouki of the Congress for the Republic
Choice	Votes	%
For	153	75.7
Against	3	1.5
Blank	44	20.3
Abstentions	2	1.0
Total	202	100.0
Voter turnout	93.1
Electorate	217
Source: AFP

Writing the New Constitution

The actual work of writing the new constitution began on February 13, 2012. The Assembly created six different committees. Each committee was in charge of a specific part or theme of the constitution. For example, one committee worked on the introduction and the main rules.

Each committee had 22 lawmakers. The number of members from each political group in these committees matched their strength in the overall Assembly. One of the most important decisions was about the form of government. This means how the country's government would be structured.

The Ennahda movement wanted a parliamentary system. In this system, the parliament has a lot of power. However, other parties, like CPR and Ettakatol, preferred a semi-presidential republic. This system shares power between a president and a prime minister. After much discussion, the new Tunisian constitution was finally approved on January 26, 2014.

Political Parties in the Assembly

The table below shows how many members each political party had in the National Constituent Assembly. It shows the numbers right after the 2011 election and then again closer to when the Assembly finished its work in October 2014.