(AFP File Photo)
A cabinet reshuffle was at the top of the Conscience Front’s agenda during its Saturday meeting with President Mohamed Morsi.
Front members met with Morsi at Al-Qobba Palace right after he returned from Russia.
The Front said that since the parliamentary elections were postponed, if the president sticks to his initial plan of keeping the current cabinet until a new parliament is elected, the cabinet would only survive for a year. The Front stated that keeping a cabinet which “lacks a political and economic vision” is a danger to national interests.
“We are not denying the efforts exerted or the achievements made by some ministries in the cabinet,” said Hatem Azzam, the Front’s official spokesperson, in a statement released on behalf of the Front. He gave the example of the increase of Egypt’s wheat production by 25%. “There are ministries whose leaders were incapable of introducing change,” Azzam said, citing the ministries of Justice, Information, Interior, Foreign Affairs, Petroleum and Investment as examples.
The Front also expressed its rejection of the controversial $4.8bn International Monetary Fund loan currently being negotiated by Egypt and the IMF. It stated the loan is neither a solution nor a goal in itself, and that stipulations to receive the loan have a number of political dimensions. Waiting for the loans or getting the state’s hopes up regarding it is un-recommended, the Front said, adding that Egypt can present national substitutes.
The Conscience Front also outlined the importance of drafting a new judiciary law which would reform the judicial branch of government and guarantee its full independence.
It also called for reshuffling the presidential team in a manner that would ensure maximum efficiency.
The Front called on the president to visit Libya and work on the “golden triangle” project which strengthens diplomatic ties between Egypt, Libya and Sudan. It also stressed the importance of tackling the Nile-Basin conflict diplomatically to ensure Egypt’s fair share of the Nile’s water.
It stated that the executive authority’s performance should take more initiatives and be less conservative in solving problems and crises.
The Front also expressed its disapproval of the oppressive treatment of revolutionary protesters such as 6 April Youth Movement members.
According to the state-owned news agency MENA, the Conscience Front also called for issuing a new protest law swiftly. The Front stated that protests have become a tool of the counter-revolutionaries to stall production and act as a roadblock in the face of the president’s reformist steps.
Azzam denied any truth to MENA’s reporting. He stated that the news agency didn’t cite particular Front members throughout its report.
The president only attended the first hour of the meeting, Azzam said in his statements. He then delegated presidential representative Pakinam El-Sharkawy to carry on with the rest of the meeting.
