Egypt’s parliament approved on Sunday morning a long-awaited cabinet reshuffle that involves 11 portfolios, including the reinstatement of a ministry and the merging of two others.
The House of Representatives announced that Mostafa Madbouly will retain his post as prime minister, and will also be in charge of the portfolio of investment and administrative reform.
The reshuffle includes two cabinet ministers who have been named to other portfolios. These are tourism minister Rania El-Mashat, who will be in charge of the international cooperation portfolio, and minister of parliamentary affairs Omar Marawn, who will be minister of justice.
The ministries of tourism and antiquities have been merged into one portfolio, with current Minister of Antiquities Khaled El-Anani to remain at the helm.
The cabinet shake-up saw the reintroduction of a ministry for information. Osama Heikal, a former minister of information (2011) and the current head of parliament’s culture, media, and antiquities committee, will be appointed minister of state for information. Egypt’s last minister of information was Dorreya Sharafeddin who left after the post was cancelled in 2014.
Planning and Administrative Reform Minister Hala El-Saeed will be in charge of planning and economic development.
Nevine Gamea, who has been in charge of a government body for small and medium-sized enterprises, has been named minister of industry instead of Amr Nassar.
Nevine El-Qabbag has been appointed minister of social solidarity, replacing Ghada Wali, who was named last month Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
Other appointments were Mohamed Manar Enaba as minister of aviation, Alaa Fouad as minister of parliamentary affairs and El-Sayed El-Qossair as minister of agriculture.
The ministers are expected to be sworn in before President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi later on Sunday.
The reshuffle also involves 11 deputy ministers.
House speaker Ali Abdel-Aal said the new appointments have been approved by the absolute majority of MPs.
