Tunisia's new constitution will not be adopted by parliament until April 2013, six months later than planned, Habib Khedher, who heads the committee in charge of drafting the constitution, said Monday.

"The final draft of the constitution could be put to the vote (in the National Constituent Assembly) at the end of April," he told AFP.

"I think that is a realistic target," he added.

The government had until now insisted that it will meet the deadline of October 23 for ratifying the new constitution, in order to hold planned general elections in March 2013.