Najla Harrouch, Minister of Trade and Handicrafts in the technocratic government, narrates her somewhat removed experiences of the Tunisian Revolution. She describes her recruitment to government and her reasons for accepting the offer. She outlines the main internal and external challenges that confronted her ministry, such as personnel issues and the complicated post-revolution economic situation in Tunisia. Although there were some accomplishments during the Mehdi Jomaa administration and free and fair elections took place at the end of its mandate, she remains skeptical of how much real progress was achieved. She acknowledges that this was perhaps inevitable, given the Jomaa government's brief tenure and the challenging nature of the political and economic environment. Yet she found the experience very personally enriching, due to her new colleagues and greater understanding of the country. She reflects on the specificities of the Tunisian situation, the roots of the revolution, and the current, highly ambivalent public perception of revolutionary change
Arab Spring, 2010-; Revolutions--Tunisia; Tunisia Officials and employees; Tunisia Politics and government 2011-; Tunisia Economic conditions; Harrouch, Najla
Format
oral histories
Genre
Interviews
Date
2015
Physical Description
62 pages
Note (Biographical)
Najla Haarouch is the CEO of Arab International Bank of Tunisia (BIAT) Insurance. She was appointed Minister of Trade and Handicrafts by Prime Minister Mehdi Jomaa in January 2014. Prior to this appointment, she worked for BIAT as head of the credit d epartment (2006-2008) and director of budget and management control (1994-2006). From 1990 to 1994, she was general manager of Mehari Beach Djerba and Mehari Beach Tabarka. She began at BIAT in 1989 as analyst in charge of investment companies, after studying in France and in 1988 working for Banque Paribas in Paris
Note
Interviewed by Stefano Portelli on May 22, 2015
Note (Provenance)
Najla Harrouch, Gift, transferred from Columbia Center for Oral History Research 2018
