CAIRO: Egypt’s President Mohammed Mursi is set to announce a cabinet reshuffle, a presidential aide said yesterday, but it is unlikely to meet opposition demands for a complete overhaul of the government.
Mursi wrote on his Twitter account that he would make “a ministerial change” and replace provincial governors, adding the posts would go to “those who are most qualified”.
A presidential palace official said Mursi’s quote was taken from an interview that will be on Al Jazeera television channel.
A senior presidential aide said Mursi may announce the changes by the end of the week, which in Egypt will be on Thursday.
“There will be six to eight ministers, and wide-ranging changes among (provincial) governors,” he said. “The ministries that will be affected include some important ones,” he added. “I can’t mention which ones because, as you know, this is a sensitive matter.”
Mursi has repeatedly declared his confidence in Prime Minister Hisham Qandil, whose sacking is demanded by a coalition of opposition groups as a condition for dropping a boycott of parliamentary elections, possibly in the autumn.
Egyptian newspapers have reported that Mursi may replace Justice Minister Ahmed Mekki and other less prominent ministers. The opposition remains steadfast in its demand for a national unity government, in a protracted deadlock with Mursi that has delayed a much needed $4.8bn loan from the IMF.
Qandil’s government, appointed after Mursi’s election in June, has tried to cope with a haemorrhaging economy despite billions of dollars in aid from Qatar and some other countries. The government says unemployment, a main grievance among young protesters, has risen since the uprising, while foreign investments and tourism revenues have shrunk.
AFP
