Constituent Assembly to Vote on Controversial Central Bank Appointment

Tunisia’s Constituent Assembly will hold a plenary session tomorrow, June 24, to officially ratify the motion to appoint Chedly Ayari as the new director of the Tunisian Central Bank (BCT).

The motion to nominate Chedly Ayari raised much controversy during last Thursday’s session of the Constituent Assembly, causing the head of the Constituent Assembly, Mustapha Ben Jaafar, to postpone the session.

The main controversy was over the fact that the nomination of Chedly Ayari preceded the official dismissal of Mustapha Kamel Nabli, former director of the Tunisian Central Bank.

There has also been controversy surrounding Chedly Ayari, himself. During a press conference held last week, El Hadi Belabbas, the spokesman of the CPR – a center left political party in the ruling coalition – stated that his party refused the nomination of Chedly Ayari as the Central Bank director due to his involvement with the former regime.

Farida Laabidi, a Constituent Assembly member from Ennahdha party, explained to Tunisia Live that, “We have been dealing with this issue carefully. Although many are claiming – without proof – that Chedly Ayari is part of the former regime, we could never deny his expertise and competence. Anyway, tomorrow this decision will be further discussed and voted on.”

Abd’elmonem Krir, a former member of the Popular Petition Party (Al Aridha), stated, “I am personally against this decision because Chedly Ayari is 79 years old—he is not young. He has a lot of expertise, but we should keep in mind that he retired a long time ago, and this position needs someone who better understands all the new laws and international agreements that are issued every day throughout the world. “