Tunisia.. Today’s referendum on constitution and military defends screening

Shaban Bilal (Tunisia, Cairo)

Amid tight security, thousands of polling stations across Tunisia are gearing up for voters to cast their ballots in a referendum on a new draft constitution that will determine the country’s political future on Monday. The path of the New Republic launched by President Kais Saied and the efforts of the “Brotherhood” » to influence the polls by hacking election databases, distributing funds and conducting abstention rallies.
The country entered an electoral silence period yesterday, on which official organizations and opponents or supporters of the constitution are banned from conducting election campaigns.
The process is taking place amid tight security as thousands of security and military personnel guard polling and counting offices across the country. Yesterday, electoral commissions in Tunisia distributed ballot boxes and supplies to polling stations.
Meanwhile, outside the country, in 47 countries around the world, participation rates did not exceed 3% on the first day of voting, amid expectations of an increase.
Tunisian political experts and analysts have confirmed to Al-Ittihad that there are many attempts by the Brotherhood and outside parties to influence the referendum process on the new constitution by hacking election databases and distributing funds to abstain from voting. These poor attempts.
Tunisian political analyst Mundar Thabet opined that President Kais Syed did not provide enough data to clarify what happened in the hacking of election databases, but there are reports confirming the existence of several attempts to hack election-related data. Sites from abroad.
He told Al-Ittihad that there are attempts to destabilize the vote, confuse the democratic process from its technical side, integrity of information, data bank and database, but Tunisian authorities are wary of these assumptions.
Tabet emphasized that these efforts will not hinder the vote because the majority of Tunisian street people support President Ghiz Said’s plan and the program and the person of President Ghiz Said have very broad popular support. Criticism, counter-propaganda and demonstration.
In turn, Tunisian political analyst Nisar al-Jedidi said the Brotherhood’s efforts to disrupt the referendum had not ended, but had just begun, monitoring the distribution of funds and mobilizing against the referendum, in addition to jamming operations via satellite. Order not to let everyone know.
Al-Jalidi explained to Al-Ittihad that President Qais Saeed revealed the existence of “electronic warfare” on the elections’ official website and addresses of polling offices. In the villages and written towards the Third Republic he tried several times without success.
Tunisian political analyst Al-Hadi Hamdoun acknowledged that there were attempts to influence the vote, the latest of which was the hacking of the Electoral Commission’s website by about 1,700 people, which changed a large number of polling stations, for example what happened. Abeer Moussa, leader of the Freedom Constitution Party, had his election file kept in an embassy abroad.
Hamdoun explained to Al-Ittihad that this forced the Electoral Commission to open the door to verifying the record during referendum campaigns, anticipating the passage of the constitution. What did not happen to Qais Saeed, who was reluctant from politics for years due to lack of trust in politicians and parties, had no party and changed the concepts and rules of the political game.
Meanwhile, Mohamed Hemida, a political analyst and Arab affairs researcher, explained that since the announcement of the presidential road map on July 25, he has faced many internal and external pressures and confusions as he tries to reverse the course taken by the Brotherhood and its allies. President.
He added to Al-Ittihad, “No one has the ability to confirm this information, but it comes from the President of the Republic, so it represents a major crisis, not at the group level, but it is being done. The way the President spoke, this means the cooperation of external parties with the Brotherhood and for them Their support, that’s the mechanism.” As has happened in many countries, the group always seeks this.”