The leader of the moderate Tunisian Islamist party that won the first election of the Arab spring met stock exchange executives on Wednesday to reassure financial markets of its commitment to free enterprise and foreign investment.
The Tunisian stock exchange fell earlier this week amid concerns over the victory of Nahda, which had been crushed by the autocratic regime ousted in January but re-emerged to gain at least 40 per cent of the seats in the constituent assembly.
But after a meeting with Rachid Ghannouchi, the head of Nahda, the bourse rallied. Mr Ghannouchi said his party was in favour of more companies listing and would help remove hurdles.
“We wanted to reassure them that we are on their side and that we want to play a positive role in the Tunisian economy,” said Moaz Ghannouchi, an economist and the son of the leader, who was also present at the meeting.
Officials of the party signalled they would protect the country’s crucial tourism sector and would not ban alcoholic drinks and bathing suits on its beaches, which draw millions of European holidaymakers every year.
Votes are still being counted, but Nahda officials are confident they are by far the single largest force in the constituent assembly that will write Tunisia’s first democratic constitution. Nahda has already started talks with secular parties on forming a coalition government to lead the country during a one-year transition. Hamadi Jbeli, secretary-general, said on Wednesday he was hoping to take the position of prime minister.
Mr Jbeli was quoted by the official TAP news agency as saying that the tourism sector was a national “achievement” that Nahda would not “touch”.
“Is it logical to handicap a strategic sector like tourism by forbidding wine or wearing bathing costumes?” he asked. “These are personal liberties for Tunisians and foreigners as well.”
He also said his party would not make Islamic banking “universal” or abolish Tunisia’s conventional banking system. “The market is central to Nahda’s economic philosophy as we can see in its programme,” he said.
Adel Grar, who heads the Tunisian stockbroker association and attended the meeting with Mr Ghannouchi, said he was reassured. The stock market, he said, was central to Nahda’s economic philosophy. “In addition, they seem to understand the practical problems we face,” he said.
Tunisia’s first democratic election has confirmed that the Islamists are the biggest political force – a development likely to be replicated in Egypt and Libya, the two other north African states, which also shook off dictators this year.
Soaring corruption in ruling circles was among the reasons behind the revolt which, in January toppled Zein al-Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisia’s former president.
Relatives of the president and his wife controlled large sectors of the economy and ensured there was no competition.
By Heba Saleh
27 October 2011
@ The Financial Times