The Egyptian Parliament approved, in an urgent plenary session on Sunday, a limited reshuffle of four ministers, without making changes to the position of prime minister. The reshuffle included changing the Ministries of Tourism, Culture, Local Development, and Public Sector Affairs, while deputies were appointed for the ministries of health and housing. Prime Minister Sherif Ismail remains in office, despite rumours that he would be dismissed due to his illness. Ismail has been absent from his position for over two months due to being in Germany for medical care. The cabinet is currently led by Acting Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, who is also the minister of housing. Abu Bakr El-Gendy, head of Egypt's Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) was appointed as Minister of Local Development, replacing Hisham El-Sherif, and Rania Al-Mashat, adviser at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), was appointed as Minister of Tourism, succeeding of Yehya Rashed. Also, President of the Egyptian Opera House Inas Abdel Dayem was appointed as the new Culture Minister instead of Helmy Namnam, and Khalid Badawi became Public Sector Affairs Minister in place of Ashraf Al-Sharqawy. Madbouly will remain acting prime minister and a deputy was appointed to assist him, though it remained unclear when Ismail would return to resume his work. In addition to that, parliament approved the appointment of Essam Al-Gazzar as deputy minister of housing and Tarek Mohamed Amin As deputy health minister. The reshuffle, which was proposed by President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, was approved by parliament after consultation with the prime minister. After news about a reshuffle surfaced, speculation circulated that a new prime minister would be among the changes. This move is the most recent after a previous reshuffle in February 2017 when the Egyptian Parliament approved reshuffling nine ministries, mainly limited to economic and social welfare ministries. Egypt additionally witnessed a cabinet reshuffle in March 2016, when 10 new ministers were appointed, including the ministers of finance, investment, and tourism. Article 147 of the Constitution stipulates that the president may conduct a cabinet reshuffle after consultation with the prime minister and approval of the parliament by an absolute majority of the members.
