The House of Representatives, the lower house of Egypt’s parliament, held an emergency session on Tuesday that ended with a vote in favour of a limited cabinet reshuffle.
Ahead of the vote, President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi met with Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli to discuss the main objectives of the changes to the current government’s formation.
Presidential Spokesperson Mohamed Al-Shennawi said Al-Sisi had stressed the need for the government, in its new formation, to work on achieving a number of goals in the areas of national security and foreign policy, economic development, production, energy and food security, and social and human development, in addition to new assignments consistent with the purpose of conducting a ministerial reshuffle.
The new ministers are to take their oath of office at the Presidential Palace in Cairo on Wednesday.
Following the end of the three-month parliamentary elections on 4 January, there has been speculation about an imminent cabinet reshuffle. Many expected that a new government led by a new prime minister would be formed.
Political commentator Alieddin Hilal said that precedents in Egypt dictate that the election of a new parliament should be followed by the appointment of a new government or by a cabinet reshuffle.
“The present exercise is a limited cabinet reshuffle and not the formation of a new government, as Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli will remain in office,” Hilal said.
MP and TV presenter Mustafa Bakri said the limited cabinet reshuffle showed that Madbouli, who has been in office since 2018, has the renewed confidence of President Al-Sisi.
“President Al-Sisi believes that Madbouli has done a good job of improving the country’s economic performance over the last two years and that he is implementing a successful economic reform programme with the International Monetary Fund [IMF],” Bakri said.
“As a result, Al-Sisi believes that Madbouli should stay in office for an additional term in order to complete the implementation of this programme, which will come to an end next November,” he added.
However, the limited reshuffle included changes in the so-called “economic group of ministers”.
Hussein Eissa, a former head of Ain Shams University in Cairo and a former chairman of parliament’s Budget Committee, was appointed deputy prime minister for economic affairs. Ahmed Kouchouk, chief of the team in charge of negotiating with the IMF, will retain his post as finance minister.
The changes also saw the separation of two economic ministries, with the separation of the Industry Ministry from Transport, and the International Cooperation Ministry from Planning.
Mohamed Farid Saleh, head of the Financial Regulatory Authority, replaced Hassan Al-Khatib as minister of investment. Ahmed Rostom, a finance expert with the World Bank, replaced Rania Al-Mashat as minister of planning. Khaled Hashem, president for North Africa at the Honeywell company and a board member of the Sovereign Fund of Egypt, replaced Kamel Al-Wazir as industry minister.
Al-Wazir, however, retained his post as transport minister though he is no longer deputy prime minister. Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar continues as health minister but no longer as deputy prime minister.
The reshuffle also saw the abolition of the Public Enterprise Ministry, and the merging of the Ministry of Environment and Local Development. Manal Awad, a minister for local development since 2024, was also tasked with running the environment portfolio.
In general, the cabinet reshuffle saw the departure of 14 ministers and the appointment of new ones in their place, in addition to the return of the post of information minister.
Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty retained his portfolio, but he is now also in charge of the two portfolios of international cooperation and the affairs of Egyptian expatriates. Minister of Defence Abdel-Meguid Saqr and Minister of Interior Mahmoud Tawfik also retained their posts.
Most political analysts agree that the return of the information portfolio is the most important feature of the limited cabinet reshuffle. Diaa Rashwan, the current head of the State Information Service (SIS), was named as the new information minister.
Bakri said the return of the Information Ministry was one of four surprises that characterised the new cabinet reshuffle. “The first is that Madbouli will retain his post to be one of the longest serving premiers in Egypt’s history,” he said.
He comes after only former prime minister, Atef Sedki, who stayed in office between 1987 and 1996.
The second surprise, Bakri said, is that a new industry minister was appointed in place of Al-Wazir, who many thought would stay in office because of his successful performance in this sector.
The third surprise, Bakri said, is that most of the cabinet’s economic group ministers were changed. Many had thought that the economic team would not change until the economic reform programme with the IMF ends next November.
Bakri said that Rashwan, head of the SIS since 2017, was widely expected to be the head of the reinstated Information Ministry. Alaaeddin Youssef, Egypt’s former ambassador in Paris, is expected to be the new head of the SIS.
“Rashwan has showed great competence and efficiency in defending Egypt’s domestic and foreign policies under President Al-Sisi,” Bakri said.
Ibrahim Al-Sayyad, a former deputy information minister, said the return of the post of information minister did not come out of nowhere, but rather was a reflection of a state of confusion in the local media landscape, manifested in the multiplicity of regulatory bodies, a conflict of messages, and the widening gap between what is broadcast and what is otherwise said.
Al-Sayyad expects that Rashwan’s main job will be to coordinate with other media regulatory bodies such as the Supreme Council for Media Regulation, the National Press Authority, and the National Media Authority to win public opinion inside and outside of Egypt.
His role will be to set out a comprehensive vision that unifies the country’s major messages, in addition to managing the media politically during times of crisis, without compromising pluralism or freedom of expression.
The Information Ministry was abolished when former minister Osama Heikal resigned in April 2021.
Many expect that the cabinet reshuffle will be followed by an extensive change of provincial governors in the next few days. “I expect that nearly two thirds of the provincial governors will be dismissed,” Bakri said.
As this is a limited cabinet reshuffle, and not the formation of a new government, Madbouli will not be required to deliver a policy statement before the House of Representatives. Article 146 of the constitution stipulates that if a new government is appointed, the new prime minister must present a policy statement to the House of Representatives followed by a vote of confidence.
The majority of MPs affiliated with the pro-government political parties of Mostaqbal Watan, Homat Watan, and the National Front, the House of Representatives rubber-stamped the cabinet reshuffle on Tuesday.
The reappointment of Madbouli as prime minister came even with what some have described as public dissatisfaction with his government’s liberal policies, accused of harming the poorer and middle-income classes.
MP Abdel-Moneim Imam, head of the Justice Party and secretary-general of the House’s Budget Committee, said he did not support the limited cabinet reshuffle.
Imam said that many Egyptians have suffered from the IMF-inspired liberal economic policies adopted by the Madbouli government.
Madbouli is the longest-serving prime minister under President Al-Sisi, having been sworn in in June 2018. Approximately a year and a half later, the first cabinet reshuffle took place, bringing in six new ministers.
Following Al-Sisi’s re-election in December 2023, Madbouli was reappointed to form a new government.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 12 February, 2026 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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