Tunisia appoints commission to write new constitution.

Tunisia’s President Kais Saied has appointed a loyalist law professor to head a committee charged with writing a constitution for a “new republic”, through a national dialogue that excludes political parties.

On July 25 last year, Saied sacked the government and suspended parliament, sidelining the political parties that have dominated Tunisian politics since the 2011 revolution that sparked Arab Spring uprisings.

He has since vowed to scrap the country’s 2014 constitution and draft a replacement to be put to referendum in July.

On Friday the official gazette announced that law professor Sadeq Belaid would head the newly created “National Consultative Commission for a New Republic”, charged with drawing up a draft constitution.

Saied has also created three other committees to focus on socio-economic issues, the judiciary and on national dialogue.