Egypt’s Main Salafist Party Refuses To Join Qandil Cabinet

The Salafist Nour Party refuses to take part in Egypt’s new cabinet headed up by Prime Minister Hisham Qandil because the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) had “failed to fulfil its promises” to the ultra-conservative party, leading Nour Party member Ahmed Khalil announced Wednesday.

According to Khalil, the Salafist party had rejected an earlier proposal by Qandil to appoint Nour Party member Khaled Alim Eddin as environment minister because the FJP, he said, had failed to honour an earlier deal – details of which were not divulged to the public – with his party.

Khalil added that the Nour Party also objected to the fact that it had not been included in negotiations over new cabinet members.

The Salafist party is expected to hold a press conference on Friday to announce its official position on the new Qandil-led cabinet.

“The party will support the position of the people for the good of the country,” Khalil told Al-Ahram’s Arabic-language news website.

On Tuesday, Qandil met with President Mohamed Morsi – who hails from the ranks of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood – with whom he reviewed the final list of new cabinet appointees.

New cabinet members are expected to be sworn into their respective offices before Morsi on Thursday.

Ahram