President Hosni Mubarak surprised political commentators by opting for a minor cabinet reshuffle rather than the major overhaul they had predicted, reports Gamal Essam El-Din With the fourth annual conference of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) less than three weeks away the cabinet has been reshuffled in a move that is less an overhaul of Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif's eight-month government than a response to the 21 August train crash in Qalyoub, effecting mainly ministries providing public services. Commentators suggest, however, that more sweeping changes might follow the NDP conference, scheduled for 19 September. The reshuffle saw Mahmoud Abul-Leil replaced as justice minister by the former chairman of the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) Mamdouh Marie. Abul-Leil submitted his resignation to President Hosni Mubarak two weeks ago, before travelling to London for medical treatment. President Mubarak told the national daily Rose El-Youssef that Abul-Leil had said that he needed to rest following recent health problems. Opposition figures, though, believe Abul-Leil's departure from the cabinet is a result of his failing to contain the crisis between the government and the Judges' Club, which is demanding sweeping judicial reforms. The appointment of Marie, 68, SCC chairman between 2002 and 2006, met with suspicion in opposition circles. According to Diaaeddin Dawoud, chairman of the Arab Nasserist Party, Marie's overseeing of Egypt's first presidential elections last September in his capacity as head of the Presidential Election Commission, "was appalling". Reformist judges view Marie's arrival in the cabinet as a negative development. "His main job," says Dawoud, "will be to tailor forthcoming constitutional amendments in a way that ensures the regime remains unchallenged." Marie is expected to adopt an aggressive approach towards the Judges' Club. Judges' Club board member Ahmed Mekki told Al-Ahram Weekly that "Marie's record with the SCC spells trouble for reformist judges." Othman, 57, will remain in cabinet as minister of state for economic development while Mohamed Abdel-Salam El-Mahgoub, governor of Alexandria for nine years, becomes minister of state for local development. Mubarak cited El-Mahgoub's experience in local administration as being his joining the cabinet. "The responsibilities of the now defunct Planning Ministry will devolve to the National Council of Planning (NCP)," said Othman, who now heads the ministry responsible for implementing the government's five-year development plans. The NCP, he revealed, which will assume overall charge for mapping out the five-year development plans, will include the ministers of finance, international cooperation, health, education, housing and transport. "The inclusion of public service ministers on the council is essential when it comes to securing adequate budgetary allocations," said Mustafa El-Said, chair of the People's Assembly Economic Affairs Committee. El-Said said the train accident in Qalyoub had exposed the shortcomings of the current system of allocating resources to vital sectors such as transport and health. As minister for local development, says Mahgoub, he will coordinate with the Economic Development Ministry in a bid to improve public services and raise the efficiency of local administration employees. During his nine years as governor of Alexandria Mahgoub has been credited with engineering a renaissance in the city. According to El-Said, he turned Alexandria from a city afflicted with "chronic leprosy" into "the Mediterranean's uncontested bride". Adel Labib, who has headed the Delta Governorate of Beheira and the Upper Egyptian Governorate of Qena, will take over from Mahgoub in Alexandria. The reshuffle also saw two security officers -- Mohamed Abdel-Hamid Sharawi and Mohsen El-Noamani -- appointed as governors of Beheira and Sohag respectively. The reshuffle has scotched rumours -- fuelled by recent attacks on the prime minister in newspapers known to be close to Gamal Mubarak, the 43-year-old son of President Mubarak and chairman of NDP's Policies Committee -- that Ahmed Nazif's government was in its last days. The national daily Rose El-Youssef recently described Nazif as "a failed man heading a cabinet of ministers with soft hands". The paper went on to accuse Nazif of acting like a businessman and of being out of touch with ordinary citizens. Some opposition figures date the deteriorating relationship between Gamal and Nazif to the latter's visit to Washington two years ago. "As a result of the visit," says Gamal Zahran, a leftist MP and a professor of political science at the University of Suez, "Nazif stole the limelight from Gamal Mubarak and since then relations between the two have been strained." Zahran believes Gamal Mubarak's recent high- profile visits to Upper Egypt aimed to sideline Nazif, sending a coded message that his days as prime minister were numbered. With the minor reshuffle, he says, "a kind of truce" now prevails between the two, suggesting that Nazif will remain in his post following the NDP conference. President Mubarak told Al-Massaa (evening) newspaper on Saturday that Nazif was a " very diligent and sincere man". Mubarak also described Transport Minister Mohamed Mansour as someone with "integrity, who harbours no personal interests and is determined to tackle the problems of the rail system". It would not, however, be the first time for ministers to receive public praise only to be dismissed soon afterwards.
