The spokesperson of the Salafi-oriented Nour Party has denied reports that it demanded to oversee education in President Mohamed Morsy's Cabinet, dismissing the allegations as press speculations. Nader Bakkar also denied reports that his party would object to the nomination of former UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei as prime minister. Political players have discussed the formation of a new Cabinet after Morsy's election. Earlier news reports had mentioned ElBaradei, a Nobel laureate and a founder of the nascent Constitution Party, as a possible selection. In a phone-in interview with Al-Nahar satellite channel on Sunday, Bakkar told media host Khaled Salah that his party had agreed with Morsy before his election on the appointment of an independent prime minister. Bakkar stressed that the distribution of posts in the next government should not be based on political parties' parliamentary representation, but rather on nominees' qualifications. Bakkar added that the new prime minister should appoint other ministers independently from the president, unlike the system under the former regime. Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
