Essam Sharaf, Egyptian PM

"Landep News"

Essam Sharaf, Egyptian PM

Essam Sharaf, the caretaker Prime Minister of post-revolutionary Egypt, is hesitating in swearing-in the reshuffled government intended to tone down the protest of the people who have been organizing sit-ins in the iconic Tahrir Square for 10 days, demanding reforms, and the punishment of those close to the regime of Hosni Mubarak.

But the reshuffle was far from appeasing the people in Cairo, who accused the PM of having kept the ministers they wanted changed, especially the justice minister Abdel Aziz al-Gindi, whom they consider responsible for the delay of the trials of those who killed the revolutionaries in January.

Fourteen ministers and a deputy minister were expected to take oath in front of the provisional military ruler Field General Hussein Tantwani, but the ceremony was postponed until Tuesday.

The new cabinet will have personalities like Mohammed Kamel Amr, former World Bank official who will be foreign minister, and veteran economist Hazem Beblawi will serve as finance minister.

Antiquities minister Zahi Hawass, known in Egypt for his activity abroad to promote Egyptian ancient art, was also sacked because of the fact that he was considered too close to Mubarak’s regime. The replacement came almost immediately under attack of the antiquities officials, causing the Prime Minister to reconsider.

Cairo Sit-in

Thirteen ministers of the former cabinet retained their jobs, including the minister of interior, whose resignation had been demanded by the people in Tahrir Square.

One of those who organized the protests that led to the ouster of Mubarak said they demanded that the entire government be sacked, and all ministers be replaced by people without any ties with the Mubarak regime.

The protests spread to other cities such Alexandria, and Suez, where the people demand a more radical reformation of the provisional government, which is mandated to organize the first free elections in September.

Those who sit in the Tahrir Square demanded many radical reforms, including the drafting of the constitution before the elections, so that it may not be influenced by the Muslim Brotherhood’s Islamic ideology, since it becomes more and more evident that the Brotherhood will have a saying in this.

The people even forwarded the idea of postponing elections until the constitution may be drafted, which is at most three months, as the constitution demands.

The provisional government has two more months to prepare the elections, the first free parliamentary elections since probably the independence day.

Meanwhile, the hospital in Sharm el Sheik announced that the former president of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak was not in a coma, as the media had said over the weekend.

Hosni Mubarak and his sons are to appear before judges on August 3, and must respond to charges of embezzlement, and murder. The 83-year-old is treated in the hospital for a heart condition, and his condition is considered now stable.

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