CAIRO: Egypt’s Parliament approved on Sunday a Cabinet reshuffle including four new ministers, government sources said, two months ahead of a scheduled presidential election.
The reshuffle included the appointment of Abu Bakr Al-Gendi as minister for local development, Rania Al-Mashat as tourism minister, Enas Abdeldayem as culture minister and Khaled Badawy as public enterprise minister.
Two new ministry deputies were also appointed in the reshuffle.
Housing Minister Mustafa Madbuly will continue to serve as interim prime minister while Prime Minister Sherif Ismail recovers from surgery, government sources said.
Egypt is set to hold a presidential vote on March 26-28, with a run-off on April 24-26. Candidates must register between Jan. 20 and 29.
Egypt’s last Cabinet reshuffle was in February last year and included new investment and agriculture ministers.
The new minister of culture, Enas Abdeldayem, is the first female to be the minister of culture since the ministry was officially founded in 1958. Abdeldayem was the head of the Opera House and a prominent flute player. She further concluded her MA and Ph.D. degrees in the flute in Paris. She held multiple solo performances and joined the joined the International Orchestra of the UNESCO.
The other female minister Rania Al-Mashat was deputy governor of the Central Bank of Egypt for monetizing policy for 11 years.
Besides the new two female ministers who have recently joined the Cabinet, this is the first time in the history of Egypt’s Cabinets to have six female ministers at once, making the representation of female ministers accounts for about 17.6 percent.
Egypt approves Cabinet reshuffle ahead of elections
Egypt approves Cabinet reshuffle ahead of elections
The art of war: fears for masterpieces on loan to Louvre Abu Dhabi
- UAE paid more than €1 billion to borrow priceless works, but experts in France want them back
PARIS: The Middle East war has raised fears for the safety of priceless masterpieces on loan from France to the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the museum’s only foreign branch.
The Abu Dhabi museum, which opened in 2017, has so far escaped damage from nearly 1,800 Iranian drone and missile strikes launched since the conflict erupted on Feb. 28.
However, concerns are mounting in France. “The works must be removed,” said Didier Selles, who helped broker the original agreement between France and the UAE.
French journal La Tribune de l’Art echoed that alarm. “The Louvre’s works in Abu Dhabi must be secured!” it said.
France’s culture ministry said French authorities were “in close and regular contact with the authorities of the UAE to ensure the protection of the works loaned by France.”
Under the agreement with the UAE, France agreed to provide expertise, lend works of art and organize exhibitions, in return for €1 billion, including €400 million for licensing the use of the Louvre name. The deal was extended in 2021 to 2047 for an additional €165 million.
Works on loan include paintings by Rembrandt and Chardin, Classical statues of Isis, Roman sarcophagi and Islamic masterpieces: such as the Pyxis of Al-Mughira.
A Louvre Abu Dhabi source said the museum was designed to protect collections from both security threats and natural disasters.
