(Photo Presidential handout)
President Mohamed Morsi met with two of his new ministers at the presidential palace on Tuesday.
Ahmed Suleiman, who replaced Ahmed Mekki last week as the justice minister, met with Morsi to discuss his ministry’s role with regards to the judiciary.
The two discussed “the sovereignty of the role of the Ministry of Justice,” according to a statement issued by the presidency.
“The ministry is carrying an important role in the framework with all judicial bodies,” added the presidency. Suleiman and Morsi also discussed plans for a “justice conference”, to be held under the auspices of the president, and to be attended by many judges.
However presidential spokesman, Ehab Fahmy, stressed that Morsi’s role in the conference would be limited to “sponsoring” the event, and would not interfere in any technical aspects. Fahmy added that Morsi would attend the opening session, which will take place sometime in the next 15 days.
The office of Prosecutor General Tala’at Abdallah said Abdallah also met with Suleiman on Monday to congratulate the minister on his newly acquired post.
Morsi also met with Yehia Hamed, the new investment minister, to discuss the increasingly important role of the ministry and its role in the country’s economic affairs. During their meeting, the minister and president discussed various plans to promote further investment in Egypt and set timeframes for the implementation of different initiatives.
The two also talked of the importance of the role the private sector would play as one of the main pillars of development. The presidency added that the meeting also raised issues of removing obstacles facing Egyptian and Arab investors to facilitate investment activity in the country.
Suleiman and Hamed were two of nine new ministers to be appointed last week in a reshuffle of Prime Minister Hesham Qandil’s cabinet.
Suleiman was an advocate for judicial independence and opposed both Morsi’s November constitutional declaration and the draft constitution. He also had two stints as head of the Minya Judges’ Club.
Hamed, Morsi’s youngest minister, worked for Vodafone Egypt and is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood.
