Egypt: New Cabinet Officially Declared

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Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, Chief of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, will retain his post as defense minister in the next government led by Egyptian Hisham Kandil, it was confirmed Thursday. Albawaba.com and few Egyptian newspapers were first to report yesterday that Tantawi would keep his post.

Tantawi has served as the defense minister under former President Hosni Mubarak for 20 years before taking the post as head of the transitional authority after the downfall of the regime in February 2011.

Egypt
Egypt

The new Egyptian cabinet is the result of an agreement between the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces and the Muslim Brotherhood. The foreign minister, Mohamed Kamel Amr, as well as finance, Momtaz El-Said, keep their portfolios. They both served in the outgoing transitional cabinet installed by SCAF.

The Muslim Brotherhood and their allies, meanwhile, got a dozen of ministries, including Justice, Health and Higher Education. The Salafis stay out of the cabinet after the exclusion of Mohamed Yousry, who had been tipped to the Ministry of Awqaf.

Members of the secular parties, for their part, refused to participate in the cabinet. They object to the new Prime Minister, as they see him as Islamist even though he is not officially part of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Al Bawaba News

Al Bawaba provides top stories and breaking news about the Middle East and the world. The Al Bawaba network consists of several web portals and media platforms.

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