What the Egyptian Cabinet reshuffle means
In a bid to revive his Cabinet’s role before addressing the parliament to earn confidence, Egyptian Prime Minister Sharif Ismail yielded to the parliament’s demands and announced a Cabinet reshuffle that included 10 portfolios.
In an attempt to ease the public’s concerns, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced a Cabinet reshuffle on March 23. This move, the first since the formation of a new administration led by Sharif Ismail as prime minister on Sept. 1, 2015, included 10 portfolios chosen by Ismail to meet the members of parliaments’ demands after they had expressed their dissatisfaction with the performance of some ministers, especially in the ministries of finance and investment. The reshuffle was also a reaction to the current economic crisis that forced Egypt’s central bank to devalue the Egyptian pound by 14%.
The newly sworn-in ministers include the ministers of justice, finance, investment, civil aviation, antiquities, manpower, tourism, irrigation and water resources, and the newly established public sector portfolio.
The new appointments preceded Ismail’s statement on March 27, in which the Egyptian premier outlined his Cabinet’s future plan. It is worth noting that Ismail has recently been subject to accusations and criticism after calling for private meetings at his office with different parliamentary blocs for the purpose of discussing and setting prior agreements concerning the ministerial program before addressing the parliament to obtain trust for the Cabinet as per the new Egyptian constitution.
According to Article 146 of the Egyptian Constitution, the House of Representatives has the power to decide the future of the newly formed government within no more than 30 days of announcing the ministerial statement.
