Egypt's prime minister and cabinet resign and Ibrahim Mahlab (Ex-Mubarak crony ) is expected to be named as Mr Beblawi's replacement. DeJa Vu??

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Egypt's prime minister and cabinet resign and Ibrahim Mahlab (Ex-Mubarak crony ) is expected to be named as Mr Beblawi's replacement. DeJa Vu??

Outgoing PM Hazem al-Beblawy says in televised speech that Egyptians must make sacrifices to help solve country's problems

Patrick Kingsley in Cairo
theguardian.com, Monday 24 February 2014 08.00 EST

Egypt's prime minister, Hazem el-Beblawi, announced the cabinet's decision during a televised statement. Photograph: Reuters

Egypt is braced for its sixth government since the start of the 2011 uprising, after the prime minister announced the early resignation of the entire interim cabinet on Monday afternoon.
Hazem al-Beblawy, appointed in the days following the removal of Mohamed Morsi last July, was meant to head Egypt's government until the election of a new president, but resigned on Monday after weeks of mounting criticism.
In a televised speech, Beblawy appeared to respond to the attacks by asking Egyptians to take more personal responsibility for solving the country's ingrained economic and social challenges.
"It is time we all sacrificed for the good of the country. Rather than asking what has Egypt given us, we should instead be asking what we have done for Egypt," Beblawy was quoted as saying in state-run media.
He said his government had "made every effort to get Egypt out of the narrow tunnel in terms of security, economic pressures and political confusion".
Criticism of his government had peaked in recent weeks amid large strikes in industrial cities, and widespread electricity blackouts.
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Ex-Mubarak crony named to form new Egyptian government

Stepping down: Egyptian Prime Minister Hazem al-Beblawi. Photo: AP

Cairo: The surprise announcement by Egyptian Prime Minister Hazem al-Beblawi that his seven-month-old government would resign just two months ahead of expected presidential elections seems destined to clear the way for a new cabinet led by politicians close to ousted dictator Hosni Mubarak.

The departing cabinet was the fifth government to rule Egypt in three years. The interim president, Adly Mansour, accepted Mr Beblawi's resignation and named as his successor the housing minister, Ibrahim Mahlab, a former member of Mr Mubarak's National Democratic Party who has business interests in Saudi Arabia and whom Mr Mubarak appointed to the legislature's upper house, the Shura Council, in 2010.
Under Egyptian law, when the prime minister resigns, the rest of his cabinet resigns with him. But the announcement appeared to catch some of the ministers by surprise.

Saudi ties: Ibrahim Mahlab is expected to be named as Mr Beblawi's replacement. Photo: Reuters

A government official told McClatchy that Mr Mahlab would return most ministers to their former posts in the next days but that there might be a shift in the cabinet's overall composition. Where Mr Beblawi's cabinet consisted of those tied to the Mubarak regime as well as newcomers since the 2011 uprising that removed Mr Mubarak from power, Mr Mahlab is expected to stack his cabinet with remnants of the old regime.
Analysts saw Mr Mahlab's appointment as helping the expected presidential candidacy of Egypt's de facto ruler, Field Marshal Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi. Field Marshal Sisi was once Egypt's defence attache in Saudi Arabia, his country's largest financial benefactor.

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