A highly placed government source disclosed that Egypt can expect to see major changes to the current government of Prime Minister Ahmed Nazeef soon. According to the source, the presidency is considering a change of leadership in the ministries of Culture, Higher Education, Economic Development, Administrative Development, Health, Electricity, Manpower and Justice. "The first ministry slated for change is the Ministry of Agriculture, after the failure of its policies and the escalation of the crises in wheat, rice, and other crops, in addition to the crisis in state-owned land distribution," the source told Al-Masry Al-Youm. According to the source, Minister of Health Hatem al-Gabaly has been set for removal for a long time because of the crises in state-funded medical programs and pharmaceutical companies. The government is prepared to hire the head of the National Democratic Party's Health and Population Committee, Madiha Khetab, to replace al-Gabaly. Alternatively, they may reincorporate the Ministry of Population into the Ministry of Health along with the Ministry of Environment to create a single entity led by the current Minister of Family and Population Moushira Khetab. As for the Ministry of Justice, Attorney General Abdel Maguid Mahmoud is a strong contender to be its new head. In the Ministry of Administrative Development, Safwat al-Nahas, current head of the Central Agency for Organization and Management, is likely to take over as minister. "Anyone from the Atomic Energy Authority is a candidate for the Ministry of Electricity, in order to emphasize the importance of this sector," the source said. In the Ministry of Culture, director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina Ismail Sirag Eddin may be asked to change places with Farouk Hosni, the current minister, the source explained. However, not all observers see the slated changes as significant. "The ministerial changes that happen in Egypt are nothing but rearranging the list of names, who move forward policies that have already been put in place," says Hassan al-Nafaa, a political science professor at Cairo University. Professor of Constitutional Law Aly al-Ghatit called for the resignation of nine current ministers because they are members of parliament. Al-Ghatit argued that all ministers who won in the People's Assembly elections must resign in order to dedicate themselves to their roles as overseers.
