(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - EGYPT'S new prime minister, Hisham Qandil, will announce a cabinet on Thursday, almost a month after President Mohamed Morsi took office.
Qandil, a former irrigation minister, has been in consultations with candidates since Morsi appointed him last week to head the new government, which must carry out the president's ambitious plans for the country.
"Qandil said he will announce the final cabinet line up on Thursday," the official MENA news agency reported.
The new team will replace one appointed by the military, which took charge after a popular uprising ousted president Hosni Mubarak last year and which still has broad powers after formally transferring control to Morsi.
In a sign of the military's continuing influence, it will choose the defence minister. Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, who ruled Egypt after Mubarak's ouster, served as the dictator's defence minister for two decades.
Qandil has said he wants a government of technocrats and will appoint people based on their competence, which Morsi's aides say is crucial if the government is to implement the president's programme.
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Qandil, a former irrigation minister, has been in consultations with candidates since Morsi appointed him last week to head the new government, which must carry out the president's ambitious plans for the country.
"Qandil said he will announce the final cabinet line up on Thursday," the official MENA news agency reported.
The new team will replace one appointed by the military, which took charge after a popular uprising ousted president Hosni Mubarak last year and which still has broad powers after formally transferring control to Morsi.
In a sign of the military's continuing influence, it will choose the defence minister. Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, who ruled Egypt after Mubarak's ouster, served as the dictator's defence minister for two decades.
Qandil has said he wants a government of technocrats and will appoint people based on their competence, which Morsi's aides say is crucial if the government is to implement the president's programme.
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