By Ashraf Sadek: A new government took the oath of office before President Abdel Fattah El Sisi yesterday. With Dr Mustafa Madbouli as prime minister, the new government is formed of 33 cabinet ministers and 15 deputy ministers. Following the swearing in ceremony, President Sisi directed the outgoing cabinet ministers and the deputy ministers to brief the newly appointed ministers on the ongoing projects that they started implementing when they had assumed their official duties during the Sherif Ismail government. President Sisi instructed the cabinet ministers to work on improving the economy, combating graft and upgrading the quality of services that are being offered to citizens. He also asked the new ministers to have young deputies and assistants to prepare them for holding high posts in their respective ministries in the future. Dr Madbouli's government is the country's first to be formed in President Sisi's new term in office. President Sisi began his second term in office on June 2 when he was sworn in at a parliament sitting following a sweeping win with a 97.08 percentage majority in the presidential election that was held in March. Dr Madbouli was mandated by President Sisi last week to form the new government following the resignation of former prime minister Sherif Ismail and his government. Highlights of the new government's formation include 12 new ministers, 15 deputy ministers and as many as 9 female ministers. (The full formation of the new government appears on Page 2). Dr Madbouli retained the housing ministry portfolio which he had held in the government of ex-prime minister Sherif Ismail. The new ministers include General Mohamed Zaki for defence, Mahmoud Tawfik for the interior, Dr Mohamed Maeet for finance, Dr Hala Zayed for health, Gen. Younis el-Masri for civil aviation and Hisham Anwar for the business enterprise sector. Following the swearing in, President Sisi met the new ministers of defence and the interior in the presence of their counterparts in the previous government, Gen. Sidqi Sobhi and Police Major-Gen. Magdi Abdel-Ghaffar, respectively. During the meeting, President Sisi expressed profound thanks to Gen. Sobhi for the tremendous and sincere efforts made during the previous stage for combating terrorism and consolidating stability in Egypt, the spokesman for the Presidency, Ambassador Bassam Radi, said in a statement. President Sisi also reiterated his appreciation and the Egyptian people's esteem of the efforts and sacrifices made the Armed Forces personnel to maintain the security and stability of the homeland as well as for their resolve to uproot terrorism. The president also wished Gen. Zaki all success in undertaking his new duties as defence minister. The president expressed thanks to former minister of the interior, Major-Gen. Magdi Abdel-Ghaffar, and paid tribute to the great efforts made in the past stage to foster security and stability and provide protection for citizens, spokesman Radi said, adding that President Sisi expressed his estimation and that of the Egyptian people for the devoted efforts and sacrifices of the police personnel to maintain the security of the country. New Finance Minister Dr Maeet has, meanwhile, stressed that the realisation of human development will be a central issue for the Finance Ministry's functioning in the coming stage. Such an attitude, Minister Maeet said, comes in pursuance of President Sisi's directives to give due attention to the task of building the capacities of the Egyptian citizen. Dr Maeet pledged in the same statements that the ministry will seek to arrange the availability of the finances needed to expedite the completion of public service projects especially including those in the health, education and housing sectors.
