Prime minister announces at a press conference that cabinet will be made up of 35 ministries and Hussein Tantawi will continue as defence minister; conference takes place hours before new government takes oath At a press conference held by Hisham Qandilon Thursday, the prime minister announced that the new government, expected to be sworn in within hours, will be formed by 35 ministries. Qandil also confirmed that the head of the military council, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, will retain his position as defence minister, a post he has held since 1991. This puts to rest circulating rumours that Tantawi would take the role of vice-president. The post of deputy prime minister for economic affairs will not be occupied, Qandil said, because of a failure to find consensus around one figure who can coordinate amongst different policy makers. “The period of uncoordinated decision making is over; the priority now will be collective action and coordination,” asserted Qandil. Only hours before attending the swearing in ceremony set to take place with President Mohamed Morsi at the presidential palace, Qandil stated that the upcoming government's main priority will be upholding the ideals and goals of the January 25 Revolution. Qandil had previously mentioned that the new government will be made up of a majority of technocrats, and not necessarily Islamist figures. Ahram Online will shortly publish a final list of the ministerial posts in the new government.
