Sharjah24 – AFP: Tunisians were voting Monday on a new constitution promoted by President Kais Saied, which has been criticised for giving his office nearly unchecked powers and threatening to install an autocracy.

The referendum comes a year to the day after Saied sacked the government and froze parliament in a power grab that his rivals condemned as a coup.

His moves were, however, welcomed by many Tunisians fed up with a grinding economic crisis, political turmoil and a system they felt had brought little improvement to their lives in the decade since the 2011 overthrow of dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

Most think Monday's vote will pass, but turnout will gauge Saied's popularity after a year of increasingly tight one-man rule that has seen scant progress on tackling the North African country's economic woes.

Early on Monday, a handful of voters queued as they waited for a polling station to open in Tunis, guarded by a pair of soldiers and four police officers.

After casting their ballots, they emerged with purple ink on one finger to prevent fraud.

Electoral board chief Farouk Bouaskar said turnout had reached 13.6 percent by 3:30 pm, and that voting had so far taken place without incident.

Speaking mid-morning, Saied told journalists the country faced a "historic choice" and a free vote.