20111211
Press TV
Tunisia's Constituent Assembly has adopted a provisional constitution that paves the way for the formation of a government, 45 days after the first post-revolution elections in the North African country.

The 217-member assembly approved the constitution on Saturday, with 141 votes in favor, 37 against and 39 abstentions.

The vote came following five days of heated debates, with hundreds of Tunisians gathering outside the assembly building demanding “freedom and dignity,” AFP reported.

"This is a historic moment, a memorable night, the beginning of a new Tunisia," said the assembly's president, Mustapha Ben Jaafar, adding that he is “proud to head an assembly that groups Tunisia's best, thanks to the revolution of its brave people.”

The provisional document outlines the conditions and procedures to be abided by the country's executive, legislature and judiciary until a new permanent constitution is drafted and passed.

The Constituent Assembly has now one year to deliver a new constitution and organize presidential and legislative elections.

According to Ben Jaafar, candidacies for the presidency are open and the new head of the state would be elected on Monday afternoon.

Based on the provisional constitution, the president must be "exclusively Tunisian, of the Muslim religion", the child of Tunisian parents and at least 35 years old.

The president will head the country's armed forces, and he outlines Tunisia's foreign policy and names or dismisses senior officials following an agreement with the prime minister.

In October, the Islamic al-Nahda party won 89 seats of the Constituent Assembly in the first democratic elections after the January revolution which toppled former dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.