Salafist Shura Council Head Calls For Dismissal Of Egypt’s Qandil Govt

Tarek El-Sehri, deputy head of the Shura Council (the upper, consultative house of Egypt’s parliament) and a spokesman for the Salafist Nour Party, called on President Mohamed Morsi on Wednesday to sack the recently-appointed Cabinet of Prime Minister Hisham Qandil, which he accused of incompetence.

El-Sehri made the comments while addressing the Shura Council on Wednesday.

“Qandil’s government is a frail one; it is totally incapable of resolving our crises and cannot under any circumstances be called a ‘revolutionary’ government,” El-Sehri asserted. “All that Qandil’s government does is spell out problems, while crises continue to escalate across the board.”

“It’s obvious that the ‘deep state’ is still prevailing, and that the current government is unable to combat it,” he added. “I demand that the president appoint a new cabinet capable of managing crises, or at least replace the heads of service-providing ministries.”

The Nour Party boasts the second largest presence in parliament’s Islamist-led upper house after the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party.

Qandil was appointed by President Morsi on 24 July. He served as minister of irrigation and water resources in the interim government of former prime minister Kamal El-Ganzouri.

Ahram