The old guard is largely absent in Ahmed Nazif's government, reports Gamal Essam El-Din Although the idea of a radical cabinet shakeup -- confirmed as early as May by Al-Ahram editor-in-chief Ibrahim Nafie -- was well received in and of itself, the public was sceptical about the old guard's role in the impending new government. According to Amr Rabie Hashem, a political analyst with Al-Ahram's Political and Strategic Studies Centre, this scepticism was the result of old guard ministers being seen to have accumulated -- over more than 20 years in office -- much power, and even more influence, in domestic politics. Veteran ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) heavyweights and former ministers of agriculture and information Youssef Wali and Safwat El-Sherif were the embodiment of this dynamic. Things began to change when El-Sherif was removed from the information minister post he had held for 22 years. El-Sherif's new post --as chairman of the highly ineffective, consultative upper house of the Shura Council -- brought hope that the old guard may be on its way out. Although the new cabinet -- led by former Communications and IT Minister Ahmed Nazif -- still includes several old guarders (Minister for People's Assembly Affairs Kamal El- Shazli and Minister for Shura Council Affairs Mufid Shehab amongst them), it is nevertheless clearly geared towards a new generation of younger ministers. Several old guarders were dropped altogether, including former Deputy Prime Minister and Agriculture Minister Youssef Wali, former Education Minister Hussein Kamel Bahaeddin, and former Justice Minister Farouk Seif El- Nasr. The 74-year-old Wali's influence has been declining since 2002, when he was removed from his influential post as the ruling party's secretary-general. Several recent high-profile corruption trials featuring some of Wali's closest confidantes have also exposed him to a flood of bitter, stinging criticism. In March, Wali's legal consultant Ahmed Abdel-Fattah was caught red- handed while allegedly attempting to extort a LE2 million bribe from a businessman. Although Wali initially denied that Abdel- Fattah was his consultant, later revelations seemed to confirm that he was. Hashem gave Wali kudos for his work as agriculture minister, but said his 17- year tenure, as NDP secretary-general, was primarily to blame for the stagnation of Egyptian politics. "The lesson to be learned from this is that there must be separation between executive and partisan posts when it comes to appointing a new cabinet," Hashem said. The same should apply to El-Sherif, whose new post conflicts with his role as NDP secretary-general. Hashem also warned against "concentrating a great deal of power under one person", another lesson to be learned from the Wali case. "It breeds a lot of bureaucracy and corruption," he said. Although unconfirmed, it has been reported that Wali might now be entrusted with chairing the ineffective state-run Specialised National Councils. Observers said the removal of Hussein Kamel Bahaaeddin, 72, from the Education Ministry was a positive step towards modernising this highly vital sector. Although Bahaaeddin was not as influential as Wali, his socialist past -- as chairman of late President Gamal Abdel- Nasser's Youth Organisation -- always seemed to be a major obstacle towards creating a more competent education system. The departure of Justice Minister Farouk Seif El- Nasr, 82, was also hailed as a possible harbinger of a wave of political reform laws that Seif El-Nasr was seemingly too old and bureaucratic to accept. Having occupied various cabinet posts for 19 years, outgoing Prime Minister Atef Ebeid, at 72, was also considered an old guarder, despite his reputation for being both pragmatic and liberal-minded. According to Hashem, even the old guarders who remain in power, like Kamal El-Shazli and Mufid Shehab, have had their powers curtailed. El-Shazli, formerly a minister of state for parliamentary and Shura Council affairs, will now only oversee the parliament. Although El-Shazli, 70, still retains his influential post as NDP assistant secretary- general, there are rumours that his 40-year political career will end next year with the advent of new parliamentary and presidential elections. Hashem said the domineering El-Shazli, along with El-Sherif and Wali, "used to exercise a lot of patronage, doing their best to maintain their entrenched interests in the ruling party at the expense of reviving political and parliamentary life". Shehab, meanwhile, was stripped of the influential higher education and scientific research minister post he had held for the past seven years. Although still a member of NDP's general- secretariat and chairman of the party's Professionals Committee, his new appointment as minister for Shura Council affairs is considered a definite downgrading of his political standing. The dismantling of the old guard, Hashem said, began with "Gamal, President Hosni Mubarak's son, rising in the ranks of the NDP". It was reflected in this week's new cabinet, and will be an ongoing process "until the old guard disappears completely from the Egyptian political stage," he predicted.
