Egypt set for cabinet reshuffle after parliament criticises performance

The overwhelmingly pro-government house voted to change seven ministers and 11 deputies

Egyptian MPs voted to amend a 1968 law governing the formation of 'popular forces' to aid the military at times of war. EPA

Egypt reshuffled its cabinet on Sunday, keeping the prime minister and key members of his government unchanged but naming or shifting around 10 ministers and appointing 11 new deputy ministers.

The reshuffle had been expected for weeks amid unusually harsh criticism of the government’s performance by lawmakers and segments of the state-controlled media. The criticism has mostly been pivoted around the notion that some ministers were moving slowly or not paying attention to pressing issues while the country’s leader, Abdel Fattah El Sisi, was pushing forward at dizzying speeds to modernize the country and meet people’s needs.

In Sunday’s reshuffle, the Ministry of Investment and International Cooperation was dissolved and replaced by a new and powerful council led by Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli. The new body will chart and approve policies.

The changes also bring back pro-government parliamentarian and former information minister Osama Heikal to take the long-vacant post that hasn’t been filled since 2014.

His appointment is apparently designed at streamlining the media and unifying the government message at a time when Mr El Sisi, has been calling on the media to make a positive contribution to his high-octane drive to overhaul the country’s rickety infrastructure, revive the economy and build a string of new cities.

Popular Antiquities Minister Khaled El Anany also has kept his job, which was expanded to include the tourism portfolio. The outgoing tourism minister, Rania El Mashat, is now the international cooperation minister.

Other changes affected the portfolios of justice, industry, agriculture, aviation, social solidarity, planning and parliamentary affairs.

President El Sisi, in office since 2014, swore in the new ministers at his Cairo presidential palace on Sunday afternoon. The ceremony followed the approval by Parliament of the changes.