Planning and International Cooperation Minister, Fayza Abouelnaga echoed statements by Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri Monday that, according to the constitutional declaration, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, the head of the military council, has the sole power to appoint and sack cabinets.
Abouelnaga said that the government feels the pulse of the street, and the prime minister and cabinet have sworn to protect the country and its national security, in a briefing at the cabinet's alternative headquarters at the General Investment Authority in Nasr City.
Abouelnaga’s statements came in response to the Muslim Brotherhood leadership’s vow to backtrack on the decision to endorse Khairat al-Shater, second-in-command in the group, for the presidency if the government was fired.
A member of the Guidance Bureau of the Brotherhood, Helmi al-Gazzar, said that the group is ready to backtrack on its decision to nominate Shater for president if the military council sacks the government, on the satellite channel Mehwar on Sunday.
However, Brotherhood spokesperson Mahmoud Ghozlan said in a statement Monday that the office's decision to nominate Shater for presidency has not been made as a maneuver.
The executive office of the FJP announced Monday the party's high committee's full support for nominating Shater. The decision came after deliberations inside the group, the party, and with experts in the political arena, said the executive office in a statement after its meeting to make the decision.
Guidance Bureau member Saad Emara said the decision of the military council to renew its confidence in the government would discredit the military council’s popularity because the people think that the government's performance is weak.
“We will go on with procedures for a vote of no confidence in Parliament,” he told Al-Masry Al-Youm.
Mahmoud Amer, an MP from the FJP, said that they would reject the cabinet’s statement during parliamentary sessions next week, which means a vote of no confidence. “Abouelnaga can say what she wants, and Parliament will take the necessary action,” he added.
