The Moment (London)
9 December 2011
THE caretaker premier of Egypt has named a new cabinet charged with tackling worsening crime and a sliding economy after the first round of elections showing a landslide victory for Islamist parties.
Interim PM, Kamal al-Ganzuri, announced his administration following nearly two weeks of delays, reportedly caused by problems in finding a suitable candidate to fill the highly sensitive interior ministry post.
He finally opted for Mohammed Ibrahim Yusuf, who headed police in the district of Giza in Cairo, who was sworn in in front of the head of Egypt’s ruling military council, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, state television said.
Police have been accused of brutally handling recent protests against Tantawi, in which 43 people have died, and crime is widely seen as having increased since the ousting of former strongman, Hosni Mubarak, in February.
Foreign Minister, Mohammed Kamel Amr, was retained from the former cabinet which resigned in November in the face of escalating protests, while Mumtaz Said was named as finance minister.
Ganzuri, speaking to reporters on Tuesday night, called on all political parties to pull together behind his administration, billed as a ‘national salvation government.’
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