Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli’s new government of 30 ministers, 20 of whom are new appointees, is expected to deliver a policy statement to parliament next week.
Once Madbouli delivers the statement, expected on Monday, a parliamentary committee will be formed to review the document in detail. The committee will then prepare a comprehensive report and submit it to parliament for discussion at a plenary session which will end in a vote.
MP Mohamed Suleiman, head of parliament’s Economic Committee, told Al-Ahram Weekly he expects “the policy statement of the new government to focus on pressing economic issues such as controlling inflation, rationalising subsidies, doubling foreign exchange inflows, speeding up the privatisation programme, completing mega-development projects, particularly Al-Dabaa nuclear reactor west of Alexandria, and prioritising the implementation of political and economic reforms recommended by the two-year-old National Dialogue.”
General Coordinator of the National Dialogue Diaa Rashwan announced on 30 June that the dialogue’s Board of Trustees will hold a meeting on Saturday. “We will see how the new government will implement the dialogue’s package of economic and political recommendations,” he said.
The appointment of a new cabinet was followed by a reshuffle of governors. Six retained their posts while 21 were changed, including Cairo, Alexandria, Luxor, North Sinai, Gharbiya, Daqahliya, Kafr Al-Sheikh, Ismailia, Suez, Port Said, and Beheira.
Cabinet changes included the replacement of Mohamed Zaki as minister of defence, Sameh Shoukri as foreign minister, and Ali Moselhi as minister of supply and internal trade. Zaki is succeeded by Abdel-Meguid Sakr, Shoukri is replaced by Badr Abdelatty, and Moselhi, who has come under criticism in recent months for failing to deal with commodity shortages and soaring inflation, is replaced by Sherif Farouk, chairperson of Egypt Post and former CEO of Nasser Social Bank.
Most of the cabinet economic group lost their portfolios. Ahmed Kouchok is now the minister of finance, replacing Mohamed Maait who had led the ministry since 2018. Kouchok served as vice minister of finance for fiscal policy and institutional reform for eight years.
Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat retains her position with a larger remit and new responsibilities. Al-Mashat now heads the merged Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation.
The announcement of Mahmoud Fawzi as minister for parliamentary and legal affairs and political communication was widely welcomed in political circles. Fawzi replaces Alaaeddin Fouad who had been in post since 2018.
Fawzi, who was secretary-general of the House of Representatives between 2016 and 2020, managed President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi’s 2019 presidential campaign.
Fawzi told Extra News channel on Wednesday that he will be heavily involved in consultations with political parties, MPs, syndicates, and civil society organisations.
“I take my appointment as a signal that the government is serious about implementing the National Dialogue’s proposed reforms, particularly in the political area,” said Fawzi.
“People on the street, just like political parties, need to know what the government thinks and the government itself needs firsthand information and a deeper understanding of public opinion.”
The reshuffle saw Kamel Al-Wazir appointed as deputy prime minister for industrial affairs and minister of industry, a post he will hold alongside his existing transport portfolio. Minister of Health and Population Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar, who has been in post since 2021, was named deputy prime minister for human development.
Alongside Al-Wazir, Al-Mashat, and Abdel-Ghaffar, ministers retaining their positions include Mahmoud Tawfik as minister of interior, Amr Talaat as minister of communications and information technology, Yasmine Fouad as minister of environment, Mohamed Salaheddin as minister of military production, Ayman Ashour at higher education and scientific research, Ashraf Sobhi as minister of youth, and Hani Sweilam as minister of irrigation and water resources.
New faces around the cabinet table include Hassan Al-Khatib, who heads the new Ministry of Trade and Investment. Al-Khatib has extensive experience working in investment banking.
The resurrection of the investment portfolio, done away with a decade ago, will reinforce government efforts to boost foreign direct investment and foreign exchange inflows, says Suleiman.
It is notable, he adds, that private sector figures have been appointed to the cabinet. They include Karim Badawi, head of the MENA division of an American petroleum services conglomerate, who replaces Tarek Al-Molla as minister of petroleum and energy resources.
“The sector is vital for the government which is attempting to double investments in energy and turn Egypt into a regional energy hub,” said Suleiman.
Private sector figures also take the helm at the Ministry of Public Enterprise and the Ministry of Tourism. Mohamed Shimi takes charge of the former, while Sherif Fathi will head the Tourism and Antiquities Ministry.
The new cabinet includes four women. In addition to Al-Mashat and Fouad, they include Maya Morsi, head of the National Council for Women who takes over as minister of social solidarity, and Manal Awad, the former governor of Damietta, who becomes minister of local development. Another notable female appointee is Jacklyn Azar who becomes governor of Beheira.
Al-Ahram political analyst Gamal Abdel-Gawad says that more important than the change of faces will be the ability of the new cabinet to change direction.
“The public has been pressing for change for months. It wants to see a government with a new spirit and mentality. Of course the public wants to see everyday crises like power outages and sugar shortages solved, but it also wants a government with vision, one capable of turning Egypt into an emerging economy that breaks the cycle of poverty and underdevelopment,” he added.
“People dream of Egypt joining high-performing economies like Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia, and South Korea, all of which have succeeded in engineering high rates of growth and development and becoming major exporters of high technology and other industrial products.”
MP Ayman Abul-Ela, parliamentary spokesperson of the Reform and Development Party, told the Weekly that MPs will work to ensure that Madbouli’s policy statement does everything possible to shield those on limited incomes from shouldering the burdens of economic reform and the government’s privatisation policies.
“While MPs accept that economic reforms are a necessary but bitter pill, the government’s policy statement will need to show how it will intervene to ensure that the poor do not bear the brunt of the reforms,” said Abul-Ela.
In 2018, Madbouli’s policy statement was presented to parliament under the title “Egypt Kicks Off”.
The new government was sworn in on 3 July, on the 11th anniversary of the ousting of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi after the 30 June Revolution.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 4 July, 2024 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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