Tunisia appoints new central bank governor

Opposition MPs were swift to condemn the circumstances of the vote, in which 190 MPs participated, despite only 156 being present at the start of the debate three and a half hours earlier.It was also a tight race, with 97 lawmakers backing Ayari, 89 of them opposing his appointment and four abstaining.

Mr Ayari was a former Minister under Habib Bourgiba and an adviser to Zine Abidine Ben Ali although he resigned before the revolution in 2011. His links with the former regime counted against him but Rachid Ghannouchi said that provided former regime members had not been"up to their knecks" in corruption and criminality they should be able to serve the new government. This was a significant admission  on his part and clearly the government needed  Chedley Ayari's expertise which includes key posts in the World Bank and the African Development Bank. This is important because international confidence was shaken by the sacking of his predecessor Mr Nabli. Moody's has downgraded Tunisia to Baa3.

However the main complaint was his age,79. The Tunisian revolution was achieved by young people ready to sacrifice their lives but the interim government still promotes an older generation and this must have a negative effect on its public image and Tunisian political life..