Egypt's newly appointed Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly met on Saturday with several nominees expected to fill ministerial posts in the upcoming cabinet, two days after he was appointed by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi to replace Sherif Ismail. According to an informed governmental source, reported Al-Ahram Arabic website, Madbouly met several nominees to discuss their ideas on developing issues in their nominated ministries, with a full list of the names of the future ministers expected to be announced and presented to parliament within days. In separate statements reported by Al-Ahram newspaper, unnamed sources in the cabinet said Madbouly is expected to finalise his nominees by Sunday, and then present them to the parliament. The ministers are expected to be sworn into office by Tuesday at the latest, the newspaper reported. The Al-Ahram website source said that the ministers who are expected to maintain their posts in the upcoming cabinet headed by Madbouly are the ministers of planning, electricity, finance, education, and social solidarity, due to the major efforts they have exerted in the recent period. The source did not mention whether key ministers would be replaced or not, maintaining that Madbouly's choices would be guided only by “efficiency and advanced thinking”. On Thursday, El-Sisi appointed Madbouly, who served as housing minister in Ismail's cabinet, as the country's new prime minister, two days after Ismail submitted the resignation of his cabinet. The resignation was an expected move, coming two days after El-Sisi was sworn into office for the beginning of his second four-year term. Madbouly had previously served as acting premier from November 2017 to January 2018 while Ismail was receiving medical treatment abroad for an unspecified ailment. An architect and urban designer, Madbouly was appointed minister of housing in February 2014 in the cabinet of then-prime minister Ibrahim Mahlab, and kept his position when Ismail was appointed as premier in September 2015. Cabinet sources has said over the weekend that Madbouly is expected to finish forming the new government next week and will be sworn in before Eid Al-Fitr, which is expected on Friday 15 June. The sources said that the new cabinet will include between 17 to 20 new ministers, mostly in service ministries.
