Egypt’s Upcoming Cabinet Reshuffle Unlikely To Satisfy Opposition – Analysis

Egypt’s upcoming cabinet reshuffle is unlikely to satisfy the opposition, as new ministers are expected to come from or be affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, analysts said Tuesday.

Although President Mohamed Morsi has written on his Twitter page that the ministries that “have not made any accomplishments” would be reshuffled while the “well-performing” ones would be untouched, some analysts doubt that the Brotherhood-affiliated president’s choice of new ministers would be based on their ” qualification” rather than their “orientation.”

If new ministers do not come from Brotherhood, they will at least be “indirectly loyal” to the Brotherhood, said Saeed al- Lawindi, researcher at Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies.

After all, Morsi had indicated that the reshuffle would not be swayed by pressure from the opposition, Lawindi noted.

As Kandil’s cabinet “does not have any real accomplishments,” it is “urgent” to appoint a new prime minister, Lawindi said. But the analyst admitted this would be even unlikely, at least for now.

Lawindi did not expect the reshuffle to satisfy the opposition, adding that Egypt’s complicated and worsening situation was too difficult to be changed “by a mere reshuffle of some ministers.”

Emad Eddin Hussein, editor-in-chief of independent newspaper Shorouk, also ruled out the possibility that the reshuffle would appeal to the main opposition bloc, dubbed the National Salvation Front (NSF).

“Undoubtedly, a cabinet reshuffle including from six to 10 ministers would not satisfy the opposition leaders,” the senior journalist said, adding that keeping Prime Minister Kandil makes it a “slight reshuffle” rather than a “real governmental change”.

“The NSF has clear demands, such as replacing the current government with a new unbiased technocrat one, amending the controversial election law drafted by Islamists and sacking the current prosecutor-general,” Hussein told Xinhua, stressing that a partial reshuffle is not enough for the opposition.

Meanwhile, Noha Bakr, political science professor at the American University in Cairo, argued that the reshuffle could be an important step for reconciliation between the opposition and the ruling regime, “if the choice of new ministers is based on experience, not loyalty or affiliation.”

The professor added that a cabinet reshuffle could at least represent a middle ground between the opposition that demands a complete government change and the president who prefers keeping the current cabinet until parliamentary elections.

“Changing the prime minister is not that easy,” said Bakr. “It is too hard to find a new prime minister with a new staff of ministers who would accept the posts while knowing that they will leave by November after parliamentary elections.”

Xinhua