Foreign Digest: Tunisia, Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia

Tunisia: Tunisia held referendum a week ago on a new constitution proposed by the President, who had seized autocratic power last year, citing failures in the 2014 Constitution that had established the North African Arab State as a free parliamentary republic, and the danger posed by the leading Islamist party. I had posted about Tunisia’s development since the Arab Spring movement for liberty and representative government started there. The President had named a new Prime Minister a few months ago and promised elections and then named a commission to draft a new constitution. The turnout for the referendum was low, however, as the public was skeptical of the head of state’s intent and the details of the draft. Elections are nevertheless expected in months for the new Tunisian Parliament. Sudan: There have been protests for months against the military regime that took power after the coup earlier this year. The protestors are demanding a return to the civilian rule of the transitional government that was formed after the overthrow of a longtime Islamist tyrant in 2019, as I have been posting about. That government was leading the transition to liberty and representative government. Ethiopia and Somalia: Ethiopia repelled attacks by the Somali affiliate of al-Qaeda, al-Shabab. Ethiopia is part of an African mission against Islamist terrorists in the Horn of Africa. It had formerly led a major force in Somalia. As I had recently posted, the United States conducts an anti-terrorism mission in support of the Somali Government as part of the War on Terrorism that began after al-Qaeda terrorists conducted the deadliest attacks in history on September 11, 2001 on America.