Egypt gets new, younger govt
2004-07-14 15:56
Cairo - Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Tuesday formally approved a new government line-up presented by Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif with key economic posts going to a younger generation.
"Mr Mubarak adopted the composition of the government by Mr Nazif," state television said, showing a copy of the presidential decree.
The 34-member government - a mix of the old guard and a younger generation linked to Mubarak's influential son, Gamal - is expected to be sworn in on Wednesday.
The decree was announced only minutes after Nazif nominated Ahmed al-Maghrabi as tourism minister, the last post to be filled.
Nazif had been expected to complete consultations on the new government on Monday but the official news agency Mena said the announcement was delayed because he had been unable to fill the tourism portfolio.
The new government's priority will be the dire state of the economy in Egypt, where growth has slowed, unemployment skyrocketed and the value of the national currency plummeted.
Press reports suggested that Nazif was forced to drop his favourite choice for the post of tourism minister, hotelier Maghrabi, because he holds dual Egyptian and Saudi citizen.
Maghrebi was in the final line-up, even though a number of Egyptian MPs have lost their seats in parliament because it emerged after elections that they also had other nationalities.
- SAPA