Egypt's Morsi should head up new govt: Presidential advisor
Ahram Online, Monday 25 Mar 2013
PM Qandil government should be replaced with new one better able to realise objectives of Egypt's 25 January Revolution, presidential advisor tells Kuwaiti press


A new government headed by President Mohamed Morsi is the solution to Egypt's current political turmoil, Ahmed Omran, Morsi's advisor for development issues, asserted in a Monday interview with Kuwaiti daily Al-Jarida.

Omran said that the current government of Prime Minister Hisham Qandil was "incapable" of taking the necessary economic and political steps needed to realise the goals of Egypt's 25 January Revolution.

He added that a new Morsi-led government could circumvent the inevitable differences that arise when ministerial portfolios are divided among different political groups. He also stressed that a cabinet reshuffle was necessary now, especially since parliamentary polls weren't likely to begin before several months.

On 6 March, Egypt's Supreme Administrative Court overturned a presidential decree calling for parliamentary elections to begin on 22 April, questioning the constitutionality of the laws regulating the polls.

Numerous clashes between protesters and security forces have erupted in Egypt within recent months, reflecting the country's unstable political climate.

The government's critics accuse it of being incapable of resolving political unrest and economic malaise, as retail prices continue to rise and shortages of basic commodities – such as fuel – become increasingly commonplace.

Nevertheless, as criticism mounts against Morsi – who hails from the Muslim Brotherhood – and his government, Omran believes this will not affect the proportion of Islamists in Egypt's next parliament.

While the Muslim Brotherhood may lose ground, the Islamist vote as a whole won't be affected, he said, asserting that elections would be in the interest of proponents of Egypt's "Islamist project."

Egypt's last parliament was dissolved last year by the then-ruling Supreme Military Council, after the High Constitutional Court ruled the assembly unconstitutional.

The Muslim Brotherhood had won roughly half of the seats in the People's Assembly, parliament's lower house. Another quarter of the assembly's seats were held by other Islamist parties.

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