Egypt’s SCAF plans Cabinet Reshuffle

The head of Egypt’s ruling military council will start talks on a cabinet reshuffle, a leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood said Sunday, in an apparent concession to the Islamist-dominated parliament’s demand for a new government.

Essam el-Erian, a senior Brotherhood lawmaker, said Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi had told Parliamentary Speaker Saad al-Katatni, another member of the Islamist group, that he would begin talks for the reshuffle.

The move to reshuffle the cabinet came hours after the Islamists-dominated parliament announced it was suspending the sessions of its lower house for a week to protest the ruling military council’s longtime refusal to dissolve the cabinet. 

The legislature’s speaker, Katatni, announced the decision on Sunday after lawmakers spoke in a televised session against the government of Prime Minister Kamal el-Ganzouri and the ruling generals who appointed it late last year.

“There has to be a solution to this crisis…there has to be a solution…and that is why it suggest suspending the parliament’s sessions for a week,” Katatni said. 

The parliament’s decision came after a night of violence marked with protests outside the defense ministry in the Egyptian capital to call for an end to military rule.

The clashes lasted till dawn, with both sides throwing rocks and petrol bombs and firing buckshot, a member of the security forces said.

Security officials said the clashes broke out when the assailants set upon the protesters. Rocks, fireworks, empty glass bottles and firebombs were used in three hours of street battles. At least 30 were wounded, according to Alarbiya.