Nine newly-appointed cabinet ministers and five provincial governors took their oaths of office before President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi on 16 February. The reshuffle, mainly involving public service and economy portfolios, was approved by the House of Representatives on 14 February. On 15 February Prime Minister Sherif Ismail told new ministers and provincial governors that Egypt needed more economic reform. “We face tremendous challenges ahead and have high hopes we will overcome them,” said Ismail. “Egypt has implemented the first phase of its IMF-inspired economic reform programme. The first phase has already begun to pay off, with foreign exchange reserves climbing from $15 billion three months ago to more than $26 billion now.” On 14 February Ismail told MPs in a plenary session that “the main aim of the cabinet reshuffle is to inject new blood in cabinet ministries and find new ways of thinking about improving the performance of public service portfolios.” “Egypt suffers from deep-rooted problems and the government is doing everything it can to find solutions and create the money needed to finish important national projects.” The government's economic reform programme aims to find “permanent solutions for the Egyptian economy”. “It is not a short-term programme, but it will put Egypt on sound economic tracks for the coming generations.” “The coming period will see greater consultation between the government and parliament on the economic reform programme. We will seek advice and recommendations from MPs. We are seeking not only to boost the national economy and improve public services, but to achieve long-term political stability.” Asked by Parliament Speaker Ali Abdel-Aal why it took so long for the reshuffle to be finalised, Ismail replied that he had approached 50 public figures, most of whom declined the offer of a cabinet job. “Many refused citing fear of media criticism. Others said family and personal burdens prevented them from accepting.” There were others, said Ismail, who refused because cabinet ministers receive low salaries. Parliament Speaker Ali Abdel-Aal hailed the reshuffle as “a landmark because it represents the first application of Egypt's new mixed presidential-parliamentary system”. “Under the former presidential system parliament had no say in cabinet appointments. Under the new constitution parliament acquired greater supervisory powers, including voting on any cabinet reshuffle and tighter supervision of the government's performance.” The reshuffle included new ministers of agriculture, parliamentary affairs, local development, planning and administrative reform, education, higher education, and transport. The ministries of supply and of internal trade and industry were merged, as were the ministries of investment and international cooperation. Minister of International Cooperation Sahar Nasr emerged the biggest winner of the reshuffle, taking over the investment portfolio from Dalia Khorshed. Hisham Al-Sherif, a former head of the Cabinet Information and Decision Support Centre (IDSC), was appointed minister of local development in place of Zaki Badr; Cairo University Economics and Political Science professor Hala Al-Said replaced Ashraf Al-Arabi as minister of planning; and Abdel-Moneim Al-Banna, head of the Agricultural Research Centre, replaced Essam Fayed as minister of agriculture. Former judge Omar Marwan took over from Magdi Al-Agati as minister of state for legal and parliamentary affairs and Mubarak-era minister of social solidarity Ali Al-Moselhi returned to the cabinet as minister of supply and internal trade. Al-Moselhi resigned his seat to join the government. Khaled Atef Abdel-Ghaffar, head of Menoufiya University, replaced Ashraf Shiha as minister of higher education and scientific research; Tarek Galal Shawki, a professor of engineering at the American University in Cairo (AUC) stepped in Al-Hilali Al-Sherbini's shoes at the Ministry of Education and Hisham Arafat, a professor of engineering at Mansoura University, took the place of Galal Al-Said at the Ministry of Transport. The merging of international cooperation and investment and of supply and trade cuts the number of members of Sherif Ismail's cabinet from 33 to 31. Five governorates — Al-Wadi Al-Gadid, Qalioubiya, Daqahliya, Alexandria and Beheira — out of 27 got new governors in the latest provincial shake-up. The appointments included Egypt's first female governor. MPs and media outlets heaped praise on Ismail's decision to appoint Nadia Abdou, who was sworn into office on 16 February as governor of Beheira. Mohamed Al-Sewedi, head of the pro-government Support Egypt parliamentary bloc, said the bloc approved the cabinet reshuffle “because Egypt is still in a critical economic condition and we decided to give the government a chance to implement reforms without disruption or interruption”. “Parliament will continue supervising the economic performance of the government and we hope this performance will improve by the end of the current fiscal year on 30 June 2017.” “There is a widespread dissatisfaction with the government but we have opted to wait unit the end of the fiscal year before passing judgement,” said Al-Sewedi. Alaa Abed, head of parliament's Human Rights Committee and spokesman of the Free Egyptians Party, said parliament decided to renew confidence in the government because “we should be in one boat at this critical time”. Ahmed Khalil, head of the Salafist Nour Party, noted that “the reforms imposed by the IMF have made the daily life of Egyptians very difficult.” “We hope that the new cabinet reshuffle will give some hope to ordinary citizens that they, too, may reap some fruits of reform.” The 25-30 parliamentary bloc rejected what it described as a “marginal and nominal cabinet reshuffle which will not lead tosubstantive change”. The 25-30 bloc, which consists of leftist and liberal opposition MPs, issued a statement on 15 February expressing surprise at a cabinet reshuffle which involved replacing ministers without furnishing any details of their policies or a timeframe for ending the country's social and economic woes. “Our MPs are sworn to respect the constitution and protect the interests of the common and poor people of Egypt, which is why we announce our rejection of these changes,” said the statement.
