Can Egypt's new Cabinet avoid mistakes of the past?
Sweeping changes in Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail's Cabinet have some observers recalling a previous premier's successful, but dubious, lineup.
Some people are antsy about Egypt’s recently reshuffled Cabinet, which is heavily laden with representatives of the business sector.
“The concern is that power and capital will link up once again to serve the interests of investors and businessmen, at the expense of ordinary Egyptian citizens, whether through the businessmen themselves or through the administrative and economic specialists who work for their companies,” economist Farag Abdel-Fattah from Cairo University told Al-Monitor.
It wouldn’t be the first time. The new ministerial roster is bound to draw comparisons with the Cabinet of Ahmed Nazif, who was prime minister from 2004 to 2011 under former President Hosni Mubarak. Despite the economic achievements of that government, it was hounded by countless accusations of corruption, leading to a number of its ministers being jailed or fleeing the country after the revolution of Jan. 25, 2011.
Though many of the accused subsequently were acquitted or reconciled with the state, and notwithstanding their achievements, the experience left a bitter taste in the mouths of many Egyptians when it comes to businesspeople seizing the reins of power.
