At the end of a three-day session on Tuesday night, Egyptian parliament speaker Ali Abdel-Aal took MPs by surprise when he announced that parliament would take a three-week holiday. “Our next meetings will begin on 8 December,” said Abdel-Aal, though he added that during this period we might hold an extraordinary meeting.” Though Abdel-Aal did not disclose what this extraordinary meeting would be about, most MPs believe it will be about discussing a new cabinet reshuffle. Parliament previously had an extraordinary meeting on June 2018, when President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi named Moustafa Madbouly as the new prime minister. There has recently been a flurry of reports that a cabinet reshuffle is imminent and that 10 to 12 cabinet ministers responsible for service sector portfolios would be replaced. Independent MP Mostafa Bakri and journalist Yasser Rizk, chairman of the state-run Akhbar El-Youm press organisation, have told reporters this week that they have learned from informed sources that a cabinet reshuffle will be soon introduced. Meanwhile, parliament's 25 committees have submitted their remarks and recommendations on the government policy statement delivered by Prime Minister Madbouly before parliament on 8 October. Deputy parliament speaker El-Sayed El-Sherif said the remarks and recommendations of the 25 committees will be contained in a report to be prepared by an ad hoc committee formed to review the government's policy statement. “The report, which will review the government's performance over 15 months, will be discussed in a number of plenary sessions,” said El-Sherif. Source: Ahram Online
