Writer Sekina Fouad Appointed Presidential Aide For Women’s Affairs

Egyptian interim president Adly Mansour on Saturday appointed well-known writer Sekina Fouad as presidential advisor for women’s affairs.

The 68-year-old author and journalist is the deputy head of Egypt’s liberal Democratic Front Party.

Fouad was among the liberal figures who supported deposed president Mohamed Morsi last June during presidential elections against Mubarak’s last Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq.

She was then appointed as an advisor to Morsi, but resigned in protest of his policies.

Fouad, who later became a critic of the deposed president, supported the nationwide mass rallies on 30 June.

Those rallies provided the impetus for the Egyptian army to force Morsi out of office on Wednesday and delegate power to Mansour, who had previously served as the head of Egypt’s High Constitutional Court.

The move was rejected by the Muslim Brotherhood, which described it as a military coup.

“I refuse the exclusion of any political faction in the upcoming phase,” Fouad told private television channel El-Hayat following her appointment. “Now is the time for cohesion, the [Islamist current] is an important and respectable part of our political life.”

Fouad is the second presidential aide to be appointed. Mansour has also appointed journalist Ahmed El-Meslemani as advisor for media affairs.

Source : Ahram