NCA draft law to oversee judiciary rejected

Tunisia’s National Constituent Assembly refused a draft law on Thursday evening concerning the establishment of a temporary body to oversee the judiciary, and replace the Supreme Judicial Council, which was dissolved after the fall of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. This draft law has created a lot of arguments within the Assembly, which was forced to abort it as soon its first Chapter was opened for public debate as it doesn’t get the majority of votes (109), especially since the law provides the ratification on every chapter of the draft law, and that every chapter obtains an absolute majority (fifty percent plus one). Members of the opposition Democratic Bloc said that the main reason behind the refusal of this draft was the absence of the principle of "the independency of the body that will oversee the Judiciary." The members also criticised the Ennahda Movement (89 seats) for refusing to ratify the principle of independency, arguing that it is an intention of the executive power to control the judiciary. MPs of the ruling movement refused the charges against them, stressing that they do not stand as an obstacle of ratifying this principle. In a statement to the Tunisian official news agency (TAP), Sahba Atiq, head of Ennahda Movement in the Constituent Assembly, said "the movement is looking to achieve consensus within the Assembly to pass the draft law in order to serve the public interest and our homeland. All parties should be aware of this because it is difficult for any party to solely obtain the majority required for approving this draft. "Analysts said the fall of this draft law confirms the existence of cracks within the ruling coalition. The Tunisian Minister of Justice, Noureddine Beheiri, said: “the executive power has no interest to control the judiciary." "The executive power (Ministry of Justice) believes that controlling the judiciary is a disavowal of the principles of the revolution and the modernisation path which was agreed upon after the revolution," adding "the ministry is keen that the temporary Commission and the coming Supreme Council for the Judiciary to have full sovereignty ." He also called on members of the Constituent Assembly to put aside political differences in order to create a decision that reflects their real commitment to an independent judicial authority. It is expected that the head of the Constituent Assembly, Mostafa Ben Jaafar, will meet Friday afternoon with heads of the parliamentary blocs to deliberate on possible solutions to overcome the impasse of the draft law of the temporary independent authority to oversee Judiciary.