Having been sworn in on Thursday evening as Egypt's interim president, the chair of the Supreme Constitutional Court Adli Mansour is carrying out consultations with military chief Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi to appoint a new prime minister and to carry out the urgent task of national reconciliation in order to pre-empt concerns about the possible exclusion of the country's Islamists from the political process. Hesham Ramez, the governor of the Central Bank of Egypt, has been proposed by official sources as a likely contender for the prime ministerial post, though he may be reluctant to accept the job. The choice of a new prime minister is a crucial step in forming a team to rescue the country's economy and help it recover from the setbacks of recent months, and for this reason official sources say that the new prime minister is likely to be appointed from among economic experts. However, the new prime minister could also be a less technocratic figure, and the name of Nabil al-Arabi, the Arab League secretary-general, is also being put forward. In the meantime, Egypt's new president has already appointed Moustafa Hegazi and Ahmed Mesllemani as advisors on political and media affairs. He has also been consulting widely with the country's various political forces in order to accommodate the anger coming from Political Islam trends after the ouster of former president Mohammed Morsi. A message that supreme guide of the Muslim Brotherhood Mohammed Badei had promised to deliver to Brotherhood supporters following his temporary release from house arrest was not in fact delivered, according to official sources. “The Muslim Brotherhood's leadership know that they have the chance to be part of the country's political scene if they wish to. It is up to them to end the incitement that has been taking place on the part of their cadres, some of whom have been expressing their anger in a violent way,” said one official source. Speaking following the killing of some 15 supporters of ousted former president Morsi during angry demonstrations and the arrest of more than five Brotherhood leaders, including the influential Khairat al-Shater, the deputy supreme guide of the Brotherhood, the official source said that “it is not at all the intention of the leadership of the state to exclude the Islamists, all of whom will be invited to participate.” Protestors demonstrating against the ouster of Morsi had been gathering at three points in Cairo and Giza, namely Rabia al-Adawiyya Square in Nasr City, near the headquarters of the presidential guard at an intersection between Heliopolis and Nasr City, and in Al-Nahda Square near Cairo University in Giza. Hamdi Hassan, a Brotherhood member, said that the rank and file of the organisation were angry and sceptical about intentions to include them in the country's political process. “We had an elected president who was removed in an extra-judicial fashion, and we have no faith left in the system, suspecting that we could end up being sent to prison once again,” he said. Under the rule of former president Hosni Mubarak, ousted during the 25 January Revolution, Brotherhood members were subject to systematic persecution that deprived them of their freedoms. Today, many members of the international community have warned Egypt's new rulers about the dangers of returning to this situation. “We have been offered assurances at a very high level that this will not be the case,” said one Cairo-based European ambassador speaking of fears of imprisoning Brotherhood members. In the assessment of official and opposition sources, the dust from recent events will not settle for at least five days. Apprehensive western capitals are already coming to terms with the fact that the popularly imposed removal of Morsi at the hands of the military was unavoidable in view of the huge public anger at deteriorating living conditions in Egypt, according to western diplomats in Cairo. According to the same sources, western countries have been reassured by the offer of significant economic assistance to Egypt on the part of Arab Gulf countries, with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait already making pledges. According to a draft of the transition plan that was examined on Saturday by Mansour and top judicial aides, Egypt should hold parliamentary and presidential elections in the next eight to 12 months. According to one source, a previous scheme to have an 18-month or even full two-year transition process has now been abandoned in favour of a tighter schedule. Sources offer alternative scenarios as to whether the parliamentary or presidential elections will take place first, but they insist that whatever happens the military will not rule the country. An announcement of a first constitutional declaration is expected to be made by Mansour on Sunday that will reveal early details of the transition. The nomination of a new prime minister is also expected by Sunday or Monday.
