Egypt’s new prime minister designate Ibrahim Mehleb has chosen so far 27 ministers, including 16 worked in the resigned government of Dr. Hazem El-Beblawi. The 27 selected ministers are:
1- Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi – Minister of Defence
Born in 1954, General Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi graduated from Egypt’s military academy in 1977. He went on to serve in the mechanised infantry, specialising in anti-tank warfare and mortar warfare.
In 2008 he became the commander of the northern military zone in Egypt.
When the 25 January revolution erupted in 2011, General El-Sisi was head of military intelligence as well as the youngest member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, the body which went on to rule the country until presidential elections in June 2012.
In August 2012, Mohamed Morsi appointed El-Sisi minister of defence to replace Field Marshal Tantawi.
On 1 July 2013, the Egyptian armed forces, headed by El-Sisi, delivered an ultimatum to political groups in Egypt, requesting that they solve the ongoing political deadlock within 48 hours or face an army-imposed roadmap.
On 3 July, El-Sisi declared on television that President Morsi had failed Egyptians and that he was no longer president, to be replaced by the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court. El-Sisi maintained that the army was acting solely to preserve Egypt’s national security.
General El-Sisi currently enjoys a significant level of popularity among different classes and groups in Egypt, although the Muslim Brotherhood accuse him of leading an illegitimate coup against Morsi.
2- Major General Mohamed Ibrahim – Minister of the Interior
Ibrahim was originally appointed in a cabinet reshuffle in January 2013, and was one of the few ministers to keep his post after the ouster of president Mohamed Morsi.
Human rights activists and several opposition figures have been calling for his dismissal since the dispersal of pro-Morsi protest camps in Rabaa Al-Adawiya and Nahda Square left hundreds dead.
Under Ibrahim’s leadership, the police have launched a broad crackdown on Islamists and more recently on secular opposition activists.
Ibrahim’s main challenge has been a militant insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula and a growing number of terrorist attacks across the country that have killed dozens of police and soldiers.
3- Hany Qadry Demian – Minister of Finance
Key Egyptian negotiator with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been named the new minister of finance in Mehleb’s new Cabinet. Demian has been working closely to the economic decision making circles in the government of Egypt since the early 1990’s. He joined the Ministry of Finance in July 2004 as a Senior Advisor and Director of the Macro Fiscal Unit, in the Minister’s office.
He holds a Masters degree of International Affairs (MIA) in Economic Policy Management from Columbia University in New York, USA.
4- Dr. Ashraf El-Araby – Minister of Planning and International Cooperation
El-Araby served as planning minister from August 2012 until May 2013 under prime minister Hisham Qandil. He was replaced by Muslim Brotherhood figure Amr Darrag.
An economist by training, El-Araby received his doctorate from Kansas State University in the United States. For the majority of his career, he worked at the country’s National Planning Institute.
From 2006 until the end of 2011 he headed the technical advisory office of former planning minister Fayza Abul-Naga.
After a brief interlude, during which he worked at the Arab Planning Institute in Kuwait, El-Araby was called back to head the ministry.
He was a key part of the Egyptian team negotiating with the International Monetary Fund over a $4.8 billion loan – a role he is expected to take up again.
5- Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour – Minister of Industry and Investment
Abdel-Nour claims to have refused a ministerial position under Mohamed Morsi.
He is currently secretary-general of the National Salvation Front, the main opposition bloc under Morsi’s regime.
The 68-year-old served as tourism minister from February 2011 until August 2012 under Essam Sharaf.
As secretary-general of the Wafd Party, he was the first minister from an opposition party to hold a cabinet post for 30 years.
He is also the founder of the Egyptian Finance Company and was a member of the National Council for Human Rights.
He is a director of the Egyptian Federation of Industries and the Egyptian Competition Authority.
He is a Coptic Christian.
6- Eng. Sherif Ismail – Minister of Petroleum & Mineral Resources
Ismail’s name was not announced until just before the swearing-in ceremony on 16 July 2013. Another name, Mohamed Shoeb, had been circulating as the person expected to be appointed to the ministry.
Ismail is chairman of the state-owned Ganoub El-Wadi Petroleum Holding Company which manages exploration and production concessions, establishes joint ventures with private companies and constructs oil infrastructure.
7- Major General Adel Labib – Minister of Local and Administrative Development
Labib, 68, served as governor of several provinces under Hosni Mubarak, including Qena in Upper Egypt, Beheira in the Nile Delta, and Alexandria.
There were major protests against him in Alexandria, with some local groups accusing him of mismanagement.
In 2011, prime minister Essam Sharaf appointed him governor of Qena for a second time after local protesters backed him over an unpopular alternative.
He was Qena governor until June 2012 when he was replaced in a reshuffle by president Mohamed Morsi.
8- Nabil Fahmy – Minster of Foreign Affairs
Fahmy is dean of the School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the American University in Cairo, and was Egypt’s ambassador to the US from 1999 to 2008.
Previously, he was the country’s ambassador to Japan from 1997 to 1999. He also served as political advisor to the foreign minister from 1992 to 1997.
The career diplomat has worked extensively on issues of Middle East peace and regional disarmament.
Fahmy was born in New York in 1951. He has a bachelor’s degree in physics and mathematics and a master’s in management, both from the American University in Cairo.
9- Hisham Zaazou – Minister of Tourism
Zaazou, 59, continues in his post as tourism minister.
He is a political independent who was appointed tourism minister in August 2012. He was previously assistant to former tourism minister Mounir Fakhry Abdel-Nour.
Zaazou resigned in June when a member of militant Islamist group Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya was appointed governor of Luxor. He later withdrew his resignation and continued as minister after the governor resigned.
10- Mohamed Ibrahim – Minister of Antiquities
Ibrahim was appointed minister of antiquities in December 2012 in the cabinet of prime minister Kamel Ganzouri, and continued in the role under Hisham Qandil until May 2013.
A professor of antiquities at Ain Shams University, Ibrahim has many critics among Egyptian archaeologists and Egyptologists, including ministry employees.
A webpage representing antiquities ministry employees announced their rejection of Ibrahim’s appointment and their plans to go on strike and stage a sit-in in front of the ministry building in Cairo’s Zamalek.
Critics of Ibrahim say that during his tenure failed to address corruption, did not provide temporary ministry employees with permanent contracts, and allowed the situation at archeological sites to deteriorate.
11- Mahmoud Abul-Nasr – Minister of Education
Abul-Nasr was formerly head of the ministry’s technical education sector.
He is currently a faculty member at Cairo University’s mechanical engineering department.
12- Dorreya Sharaf El-Din – Minister of Information
Sharaf El-Din was appointed by El-Beblawi and is the first woman to hold the post.
The information ministry has long been criticised for its control over the media, and since the January 2011 revolution many have called for it to be abolished.
Sharaf El-Din is a significant figure in the state-run Egyptian Radio and Television Union. She previously served as the first undersecretary of the information ministry, heading the satellite channels division.
She has also hosted several television shows including Sual (Question) on a state channel and Ahl El-Raey (People of Opinion) on the privately-owned Dream channel.
Sharaf El-Din was also a member of the policies committee and the women’s committee of Hosni Mubarak’s now-dissolved National Democratic Party.
13- Dr. Ayman Abu Hadid – Minister of Agriculture
Abu Hadid was first appointed agriculture minister in the cabinet of Ahmed Shafiq, which was formed during the January 2011 uprising. He continued to serve as minister in the following cabinet under Essam Sharaf.
He was replaced as minister under Hisham Qandil in 2012.
14- Mohamed Amin El-Mahdy – Minister of Transitional Justice and Parliamentary Affairs
An international judge and a prominent lawmaker, El-Mahdy, 77, is a member of the advisory committee of the Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (CRCICA) and the National Human Rights Council.
Graduating with a degree in law in 1956, El-Mahdy started out as an associate in the technical office of president Gamal Abdel-Nasser, and later became an advisor to the justice and finance ministers.
Over his extensive career, El-Mahdy has assumed several leading judicial posts. From October 2000 to September 2001, he chaired the Egyptian State Council and the High Administrative Court.
From 1994 to 1997, he served as a constitutional advisor to the Kuwaiti emir.
He was the only Egyptian judge to serve on the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the body tasked with prosecuting crimes committed during the wars in the former Yugoslavia.
In 2007, El-Mahdy was selected by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to be member of the tribunal trying suspects in the 2005 assassination of Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri.
He served on a fact-finding committee tasked with investigating violations committed during the January 2011 uprising.
He also heads a national committee tasked with retrieving Egyptian funds from overseas.
His post – minister of transitional justice and national reconciliation – is a new one, replacing the position of minister of justice.
15- Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa – Minister of Religious Endowments
Gomaa is dean of the Faculty of Islamic Studies at Al-Azhar University, and a member Al-Azhar’s senior clerical institute.
He was born in 1939 in Qalioubiya governorate. He earned his degree in Arabic in 1965 and later completed a master’s degree and a doctorate.
Gomaa worked at several newspapers as an Arabic proofreader and has been a member of the Journalists Syndicate since 1972.
He is also the author of several books on religion.
16- Eng. Atef Helmy – Minister of Communications and Information Technology
Helmy was originally appointed communications minister in January 2013. He resigned from the cabinet on 1 July in protest at Mohamed Morsi’s failure to respond to nationwide protests against his rule.
A graduate of a military technical college, Helmy obtained a diploma in computer science from Ain Shams University in 1979.
After leaving the army in 1983, he began his career in the civilian IT sector, working at several Egyptian and multinational corporations, including Oracle Egypt, where he became managing director.
17- Eng. Khaled Abdel-Aziz – Minister of Youth and Sports
Abdel-Aziz was the head of the Shooting Club, a private sports club in Giza, and then became chairman of the National Council of Youth.
He is a member of the Egypt Party, founded and led by moderate Islamic preacher Amr Khaled.
Abdel-Aziz was director of the 2006 African Cup of Nations, which Egypt hosted and won.
18- Dr. Ghada Wali – Minister of Social Solidarity
Waly is the secretary-general of the Social Fund for Development (SFD), a government entity that provides startup companies with financial help and other services. Her past experience includes a stint at the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), where she worked towards poverty reduction and job creation.
Waly has previously called on the Egyptian government to encourage entrepreneur innovation and development in the microfinance sector.
Waly was also a board member of the Consumer Protection Agency, the first government body for consumer protection, which was created in 2006.
She studied at Colorado State University in the USA, earning an M.A. in Arts and Humanities in 1990 and a B.A. in 1987.
19- Captain Hossam Kamal – Minister of Civil Aviation
Capt. Hossam Kamal has been Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of EgyptAir Holding Company since December 7, 2011. Capt. Kamal has headed EGYPTAIR Investment Plan committee which contributed towards the development and cost reduction initiatives and has even led the branding committee that managed the transition period of EGYPTAIR to the new brand and upgraded customer service. Capt. Kamal is an active B777 pilot, trainer & examiner with an experience of over 13000 flying hours. Capt. Kamal serves as a Director of EgyptAir Holding Company. Capt. Kamal has B. SC. in Aviation and a Diploma in Administration Management.
20- Dr. Mohamed Shaker – Minister of Electricity
Professor of Electrical Engineering at Cairo University. He is also a businessman who has worked with the ministry on various projects. He is an expert in Electrical Engineering, making him offering electrical consultancy in the MENA region as well.
21- Dr. Mostafa Kamal Madboly – Minister of Housing
Dr. Mostafa Kamal Madbouly IS Regional Director of the Regional Office for Arab States (ROAS) Cairo of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, UN-HABITAT.
22- Khaled Hanafy – Minister of Supply
Hanafy is chair of the Internal Trade Development Authority (ITDA), a governmental body belonging to the ministry of supply. He was appointed chair of ITDA after a decision by outgoing Prime Minister Hazem El-Beblawi in late November 2013.
He is also dean of the International Transport and Logistics faculty at the Arab Academy for Science, Technology, and Maritime Transport.
23- Ibrahim Yunis – Minister of State for Military Production
Ibrahim Yunis served as Chairman of Arab Organisation for Industrialization/Air Craft Factory (AOI/ACF)
24- Nahed Hassan Ashry – Minister of Manpower and Immigration
Born in 1956, Ashry graduated from Faculty of Law at Cairo University. She has been working for the Ministry of Manpower since 1982. She was gradually promoted in Manpower Ministry, until she became in April 2013 the Head of Immigration and Egyptian Expatriates’ Affairs.
25- Mahfouz Saber – Minister of Justice
He was the head of the Electoral Committee during the in 2010 elections and the Inspections Department in the Ministry of Justice.
26- Dr. Tarek Hanafi – Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources
Hanafi headed the central department for water resources at the ministry under Mohamed Morsi, serving as a senior minister’s aide.
He dealt with emergency plans, operational programmes and following up with the legislation related to management of water resources. He earlier headed the ministry’s planning department.
He worked as an international expert in water resources management at the World Bank for Reconstruction and Development in Washington and Sanaa in Yemen.
Hanafi, who also served as a consultant in the field of water and conflict resolution in several projects funded by USAID and the Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO , and Development Agency of Japan (JICA), was responsible for the Nile Basin file at the ministry of irrigation.
27- Ashraf Mansour – Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research
Mansour founded the German University in Cairo (GUC) with the aim of offering the same quality of education that he experienced while studying abroad. He has been the head of the university since it opened in 2002.
A wave of strikes and protests broke out at GUC in early 2012 when a commemoration for a fellow student killed in the Port Said football massacre turned into a protest against the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), which had been ruling Egypt following the 2011 uprising.
The protest led to a handful of students being expelled and others suspended from the university. Students countered the university’s decision by holding sit-ins to demand the return of their expelled fellows and also an independent student union, which was later granted.
