Former Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif has returned back to his former position as emeritus professor at Cairo University’s Faculty of Engineering upon dean of faculty Sherif Murad's decision to reinstate him.
Nazif had earlier submitted a request to the university to receive his medical card, as a faculty member, which had been stopped since he was appointed as telecommunication minister in 1999.
Nazif then became prime minister under the rule of deposed President Hosni Mubarak. Following 25 January revolution, Nazif was remanded into custody pending investigations on corruption charges but eventually cleared of charges.
The university approved Nazif's return to work starting 1 October 2013, the date on which he had submitted the request, and decided that his salary would be disbursed from that start date.
Meanwhile, Murad said the university's decision was ‘very normal,’ adding that the faculty had earlier approved the return of many professors after they left ministries they had led.
“The approval of Nazif’s request to return back as a faculty member was made after the court cleared him from the lawsuits against him,” he told Al-Masry Al-Youm and added that his request would not have been accepted had he been convicted.
Murad denied any political motivation behind the decision and said that “the faculty administration has no political motivations and did not consider partisan reasons.”
Al-Masry Al-Youm was informed that the university’s department of salaries included Nazif’s name in the current month’s budget.
The faculty administration is considering allocating weekly lectures for Nazif after the end of the mid-year vacation.
According to a university employee, ‘special arrangements’ are being taken to secure Nazif when he arrives at the university for fear of "attacks by students affiliated to the Muslim Brotherhood in light of tension on universities during the first semester.”
