CAIRO: Kamal El-Ganzoury’s to-be-formed national salvation government continued to face criticism as the nominations for ministers were announced, in addition to reservations on El-Ganzoury himself for his old age and affiliation to the Mubarak regime.
News of an advisory council comprising major political figures also failed to satisfy critics, as many politicians turned down offers to take part.
The official announcement of the cabinet has been repeatedly postponed, reportedly due to ongoing talks to find ministers that would be accepted by political powers. State media also said the elections run-offs, scheduled for Dec. 5-6, were a vital factor in the delay. The final announcement is now expected on Wednesday.
On Friday, the official news agency MENA said at least 12 ministers from Essam Sharaf’s Cabinet will remain unchanged. A few other names were discussed, as El-Ganzoury met the different candidates, but no official confirmation was made.
The new interior minister expected to replace Mansour El-Essawy, after bloody clashes in Tahrir Square last month, remains unclear, although El-Ganzoury said his priority is to stabilize security in the country.
"We are preparing a list of youth figures that can hold this position instead of those old names, the majority of whom were aides of Habib El-Adly (former interior minister)," said Ahmed Meshaly, member of the General Coalition of Police Officers.
He stressed that the coalition refused Major-General Abdel Rehim Qenawy, nominated by El-Ganzoury, claiming that he oversaw the rigging of the 2010 parliamentary elections as one of El-Adly’s aides.
Meshaly, however, refuted claims that Major-General Mohamed Ibrahim, also nominated by El-Ganzoury, is being tried for killing demonstrators during the Jan. 25 revolution as has been reported recently.
"This one is the former security chief of Giza district. The other one on trial at the criminal court is the security chief of Alexandria," Meshaly said.
The interior minister is not the only dilemma facing El-Ganzoury, who was appointed by Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to replace Sharaf, after his Cabinet resigned in the wake of a violent crackdown by the police on protesters in and near Tahrir Square on Nov. 19-24.
The new prime minister reportedly refused to keep Osama Heikal in office as minister of information but the latter was allegedly imposed on him by the military council.
The lack of powers given to the Cabinet has been one of the main issues mobilizing protesters, who are still camped out outside the cabinet headquarters to stress their rejection of El-Ganzoury.
According to Diaa Rashwan, of the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, SCAF denied these reports and said that El-Ganzoury is totally free in his choices.
"Heikal was an opponent to some of SCAF’s actions, but when he became a minister his crisis management skills have proven to be inept," Tarek Al-Malt, spokesman of Al-Wasat Party, said.
He added that a national salvation government requires figures with strong characters who are politically well-known and representatives of the various mainstreams.
"El-Ganzoury is trying to form a technocratic government which is not suitable when there is a political crisis," he explained, adding that the new names should not be governmental workers because they are used to low ambitions.
The nominated name for the education ministry, Gamal Al-Araby, was rejected by the Independent Teachers’ Syndicate.
"Al-Araby was a bureaucratic employee in the ministry and he doesn’t have a revolutionary mind or a vision that would help reform education," Abdel Hafez Tayel, one of the founders of the syndicate, told DNE.
Tayel claimed that Al-Araby is used to obeying orders without opposition as he was a member of the dissolved National Democratic Party (NDP) in addition to connections with the dissolved state security apparatus.
"Political security should be separated from education after the revolution," Tayel said.
The Center for Trade Union and Workers Services (CTUWS) and the Egyptian Democratic Labor Congress (EDLC) opposed the nomination of Sayed Al-Bastaweesy for the manpower and immigration ministry.
"Al-Bastaweesy’s employment practices were based on profiteering from his position and selling the rights of workers to employers, as well as his hostility to the very basic rights of workers and to freedom of trade unions. This was obvious in his participation in the forgery of the will of the workers in the 2006-2011 elections," reads a statement by EDLC.
In addition to the objections, the fact that key ministries will likely remain unchanged is riling up opposition.
"There is no powers possessed by the new cabinet; it didn’t differ from Essam Sharaf’s Cabinet," Yasser El-Hawary, member of Youth for Justice and Freedom Movement, said.
On the other hand, SCAF has been discussing with a number of political powers and presidential hopefuls the possibility of forming an advisory council that would aid SCAF in taking political decisions.
Although political powers have been calling for such a council since the toppling of Mubarak and his regime, some now say it would be useless if its role is confined to being "advisory," Al-Malt said.
"The council will only give advice for SCAF," said Sameh Ashour, head of the Lawyers’ Syndicate and one of the figures that attended the meetings of the formation of the council.
"The formation of the council will be announced Thursday," Ashour said denying that he would be a member.
Adel Afify, head of the Salafi Al-Nour Party who is expected to be a member of the council, told Reuters that the members of the to-be-formed council are banned from talking about the bylaws or the members of the council.
"The council will be advisory to SCAF but they promised they will commit to what we decide," he said.
El-Hawary deemed the advisory council as useless as long as some figures are reluctant to join it.
"I heard that around eight refused to become part of the council," Al-Malt said stressing that he is unaware of their identity.
"This is based on precise political equations. Those who refuse to join the council are afraid they will be politically burned or rejected later by the public for working with SCAF," he added.
Rashwan stressed that the most important point is that those who apologized for not joining the council have done that because of their ambitions of becoming presidential candidates not because of their opposition to the powers of the advisory council.
"We cannot be sure of the extent of power the council will have until it is announced," he said.
