Another wave of resignations has hit Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood-linked government, with high-ranking justice and finance officials announcing in recent days that they were quitting.
Egypt’s justice minister recently resigned over Islamist efforts to “cleanse” the Egyptian judiciary of judges seen as opposed to the country’s Brotherhood-linked president Mohammed Morsi:
Ahmed Mekky was seen as a supporter of judicial independence during former President Hosni Mubarak’s rule. He threatened to quit last year after the president adopted broader powers.
Thousands of pro-Morsi supporters demonstrated on Friday, calling for those linked to the former regime to be removed from judicial posts… In his resignation letter, Mr Mekky stated that the rallies earlier this week had led to his decision… Mr Mekky was also said to have voiced his concern about attempts to pass a new bill which critics argue would give the Muslim Brotherhood-dominated government greater control over the judiciary. The bill envisages the lowering of the retirement age of judges – a measure that would mean the forced retirement of some 3,000 judges.
Negotiations last weekend between the president’s office and the judiciary reportedly led to a compromise which will avoid a purge.
Meanwhile, First Deputy Finance Minister Hany Kadry Dimian told Reuters on Sunday that he was also leaving office. Dimian was a key senior negotiators in Cairo’s efforts to secure a badly-needed $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund. Talks thus far have floundered in the face of the Morsi government’s refusal to undertake financial reforms demanded by the IMF. Dimian’s resignation will worsen situation:
A senior European diplomat said his departure was not a good omen for Egypt’s hopes of wrapping up a deal on the long delayed IMF loan next month, as the government has said it aims to do. Kadry was the one expert in the ministry who fully understood the IMF program and was able to deal with the global lender professionally, the diplomat said.
The daily El-Watan said on its website that Kadry had been under increasing pressure from the ruling Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party, and in conflict with Abdallah Shehata, the FJP economic adviser to Finance Minister Al-Mursi Al-Sayed Hegazy.
Dimian has promised to make a statement on Tuesday outlining the reasons for his resignation.
Communications Minister Hany Mahmoud also recently quit, explaining that he was unable “to adapt to the government’s working culture”. So has parliamentary affairs minister Mohamed Mahsoub, who said that he was unable to serve in the government because “a lot of [its] policies and efforts contradict with my personal beliefs.”
The stream of resignations is bound to deepen concerns regarding the stability and even viability of Morsi’s administration.
