Mohamed ElBaradei (Photo: Al-Ahram archive)
Prominent politician Mohamed ElBaradei is to be appointed Egypt's new prime minister under interim President Adly Mansour, according to Constitution Party founder Khaled Daoud.
According to Daoud, ElBaradei will be sworn in before Adly at 20:00 CMT.
Nobel peace prize laureate ElBaradei had been a leading opposition figure since the 2011 revolution, having been one of the most prominent figures to foresee and call for the uprising that put an end to the 30-year rule of Hosni Mubarak.
He initially had the intention to run in last year's presidential elections, but backtracked on his decision months ahead of the polls saying there were no guarantees that elections would be fair.
During the transitional period under interim military rule, ElBaradei grew critical of the policies of the Muslim Brotherhood, which in turn had accused him of being a US "agent."
ElBaradei has also been a staunch critic of Morsi and the Brotherhood and supported his ouster, having spoken as an opposition representative after Defence Minister Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi announced Morsi's ouster and the implementation of an emergency "roadmap."
The appointment of ElBaradei, who has stressed that he would not run in upcoming presidential elections, is likely to infuriate Islamist supporters of Morsi, who have been gathering across the nation in the hundreds of thousands calling for his reinstatement.
"We welcome the candidacy of Dr. ElBaradei. Already we insisted on his candidacy because we wanted a political figure that has freedom to choose ministers and we are confident that Dr. ElBaradei will not bow to any pressures," said Ahmed Emam, a leading member of the Strong Egypt Party.
"Dr. ElBaradei does not support the exclusion of any political force or party in Egypt," said Emam. "We need someone who believes in democracy."
Strong Egypt leader Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fotouh has already attended a meeting with interim president Adly Mansour.
Rebel campaign co-founder Mahmoud Badr also revealed on his official Twitter account that the revolutionary youth movement had called for ElBaradei by name.
On the other hand, the Salafist Nour Party reportedly rejected ElBaradei's candidacy. Nour spokesman Ashraf Thabet told Ahram Online that it would soon issue a press statement on the issue.
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