For as long as anyone remembers in Egypt, prime ministers and their Cabinet members have come and gone without a single official word on what earned them the job or why they were shown the door.
That religiously observed official “code of silence” has invariably given rise to intense speculation by pundits, commentators, and now ordinary folk using social media platforms to share their views.
The latest Cabinet reshuffle in Egypt took place this week, with President Abdel Fattah El Sisi – the country's leader of nearly 13 years, who has the final say on all affairs of state – swearing them in on Wednesday.
The change took effect amid growing calls for a different approach to the handling of the debt-laden economy and a more focused effort to reduce the hardships the majority of Egyptians face to make ends meet in the country of 108 million people, about a third of whom qualify as poor.
Even without an official explanation of what brought about the changes, there are several points of note in the latest reshuffle.
Mostafa Madbouly endures
Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly has held his post since 2018, placing him among the longest-serving heads of government in Egypt since it became a republic in the early 1950s.
Staunchly loyal to Mr El Sisi, the Prime Minister has faced mounting criticism for his handling of the economy. His boastful comments about improved economic indicators have triggered scathing criticism of the government's failure to rein in prices and its tendency to introduce new taxes or raise existing ones.
Critics have also focused on what they see as the crippling growth of the country's foreign debt, which has risen to more than $160 billion over the past decade. Mr Madbouly's recent comments that he would soon announce a plan to reduce debt to a level not seen in 50 years, without explaining how, have intensified the criticism.
Late last year, he reassured the public that “the worst has passed” regarding foreign debt and cited lower inflation and the fall in the debt-to-GDP ratio as evidence of an improving economy.
“People don't eat [economic] indicators,” was the stinging retort from the Hosni Mubarak-era finance minister Youssef Boutros Ghali. That became widely known as the most apt description of the predicament of most Egyptians.
New Defence Minister and chief of staff
In what appeared to be a last-minute decision, President El Sisi, who is also the supreme commander of the armed forces, replaced both his defence minister and the armed forces' chief of staff.
He named Gen Ashraf Mansour, commandant of the Military Academy, to the defence portfolio and appointed another general, Gen Yasser Al Todi, as chief of staff.
The changes have great significance given the regional challenges facing Egypt, such as the civil war in neighbouring Sudan that has sent an estimated 1.5 million people across the border to seek refuge in Egypt.
Egypt also has to contend with the menacing presence of Israel's military across its eastern border in Gaza, after two years of war in the Palestinian enclave that have plunged relations between the neighbours to their lowest level since they signed a peace treaty in 1979.
Possibly the most serious national security concern in the eyes of the government is the dispute with Ethiopia over its vast dam on the Nile, which Mr El Sisi has called an existential threat.
The dispute has forced Egypt to bolster ties and military co-operation with Ethiopia's neighbours Somalia, Eritrea and Djibouti, to put pressure on Ethiopia to show more flexibility in finding a diplomatic solution.
Powerful general no longer a deputy PM
Kamel Al Wazir is a former general who led the military's powerful construction and development arm before he was named transport minister in 2019 – a job that gave him control over infrastructure projects worth billions of dollars, from roads to high-speed trains and a monorail.
In 2024, he was named deputy prime minister and given the industry portfolio in addition to his transport brief. The promotion was widely seen as evidence of Mr El Sisi's trust and confidence in the former general, who spearheaded his high-octane construction drive, and as underscoring the loyalty of a soldier who stood stiffly to attention whenever the President addressed him in public.
The expansion of Gen Al Wazir's authority fed speculation that the engineer by training was the most likely candidate to be the next prime minister. Some of his public comments since then have also reflected his confidence in his abilities and position – he said he would be the transport minister in the first half of the day and fulfil his duties as industry minister in the evening.
Faced with criticism over a spike in road deaths and deadly railway accidents, he insisted he would never step down and that he would carry out his duties until his death. Gen Al Wazir remains Transport Minister, but was stripped of the title of deputy prime minister and the industry portfolio this week.
