CAIRO: The Egyptian Cabinet will be reshuffled by the end of the week, a state-run newspaper reported, pointing to a delay in efforts to revamp a government widely criticized for failing to get the economy moving and to conclude a much-needed IMF loan deal.
President Muhammad Mursi announced on April 20 he would carry out the reshuffle, generating hope of a more inclusive cabinet that could build political consensus around talks with the International Monetary Fund on a $ 4.8 billion loan program.
Prime Minister Hisham Qandil said on April 22 the reshuffle would be completed by early last week. A presidential spokesman said on April 24 it would be done “within days.”
The IMF has stressed the need for broad political support for a loan deal seen as vital to easing Egypt’s economic crisis but which is also likely to bring with it politically-sensitive austerity measures such as tax increases and subsidy cuts. Cairo failed to reach an agreement with IMF officials last month.
But Qandil is set to stay in office and Mursi’s most vocal opponents are not expected to be included in a limited reshuffle that falls short of their demands for a complete overhaul of the cabinet before parliamentary elections expected later this year.
State-run Al-Gomhuria newspaper on Sunday quoted sources in the Muslim Brotherhood — the movement behind Mursi — as saying “the reshuffle will see the light at the end of the week.” The sources said it had taken longer than expected because The presidency was seeking people with the right experience.
But Al Masry Al Youm, an independently owned newspaper that is critical of Mursi, said Kandil was struggling to complete the reshuffle because candidates were refusing to work with him. “You have to be a true patriot to take a job in the Cabinet now,” said Elijah Zarwan, a Cairo-based political analyst.
![]()
Egyptian Cabinet to be reshuffled by weekend
Egyptian Cabinet to be reshuffled by weekend
Algeria parliament to vote on law declaring French colonization ‘state crime’
ALGERIA: Algeria’s parliament is set to vote on Wednesday on a law declaring France’s colonization of the country a “state crime,” and demanding an apology and reparations.
The vote comes as the two countries are embroiled in a major diplomatic crisis, and analysts say that while Algeria’s move is largely symbolic, it could still be politically significant.
The bill states that France holds “legal responsibility for its colonial past in Algeria and the tragedies it caused,” according to a draft seen by AFP.
The proposed law “is a sovereign act,” parliament speaker Brahim Boughali was quoted by the APS state news agency as saying.
It represents “a clear message, both internally and externally, that Algeria’s national memory is neither erasable nor negotiable,” he added.
France’s colonization of Algeria from 1830 until 1962 remains a sore spot in relations between the two countries.
French rule over Algeria was marked by mass killings and large-scale deportations, all the way to the bloody war of independence from 1954-1962.
Algeria says the war killed 1.5 million people, while French historians put the death toll lower at 500,000 in total, 400,000 of them Algerian.
French President Emmanuel Macron has previously acknowledged the colonization of Algeria as a “crime against humanity,” but has stopped short of offering an apology.
Asked last week about the vote, French foreign ministry spokesman Pascal Confavreux said he would not comment on “political debates taking place in foreign countries.”
Hosni Kitouni, a researcher in colonial history at the University of Exeter in the UK, said that “legally, this law has no international scope and therefore is not binding for France.”
But “its political and symbolic significance is important: it marks a rupture in the relationship with France in terms of memory,” he said.
The vote comes as the two countries are embroiled in a major diplomatic crisis, and analysts say that while Algeria’s move is largely symbolic, it could still be politically significant.
The bill states that France holds “legal responsibility for its colonial past in Algeria and the tragedies it caused,” according to a draft seen by AFP.
The proposed law “is a sovereign act,” parliament speaker Brahim Boughali was quoted by the APS state news agency as saying.
It represents “a clear message, both internally and externally, that Algeria’s national memory is neither erasable nor negotiable,” he added.
France’s colonization of Algeria from 1830 until 1962 remains a sore spot in relations between the two countries.
French rule over Algeria was marked by mass killings and large-scale deportations, all the way to the bloody war of independence from 1954-1962.
Algeria says the war killed 1.5 million people, while French historians put the death toll lower at 500,000 in total, 400,000 of them Algerian.
French President Emmanuel Macron has previously acknowledged the colonization of Algeria as a “crime against humanity,” but has stopped short of offering an apology.
Asked last week about the vote, French foreign ministry spokesman Pascal Confavreux said he would not comment on “political debates taking place in foreign countries.”
Hosni Kitouni, a researcher in colonial history at the University of Exeter in the UK, said that “legally, this law has no international scope and therefore is not binding for France.”
But “its political and symbolic significance is important: it marks a rupture in the relationship with France in terms of memory,” he said.
Latest updates
© 2025 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.