Information Ministry may be shut down, says presidency
Controversy surrounding the highly divisive Information Ministry may soon be put to rest. Presidential media advisor Ahmed al-Moslemany has announced that the ministry — which many activists accuse of censoring the press — would be abolished during the transitional period, state-run newspaper Al-Ahram reported on Monday.
It would be replaced by “an independent body for state media,” Moslemany reportedly said.
The polemical Information Ministry had been temporarily dissolved in February 2011, days after Hosni Mubarak’s ouster, but was then reinstated by interim ruler Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, who appointed Osama Heikal to its helm.
For the time being, the on-again-off-again ministry is expected to be headed up by media personality Doreya Sharaf Eddin in newly appointed Prime Minister Hazem al-Beblawi’s Cabinet.
Rights groups have long called for the Information Ministry’s dissolution. The ministry has a notorious history of acting as the ruling regime’s mouthpiece, and activists decry it as a major obstacle to freedom of expression.
أخبار ذات صلة
Egypt’s Grand Mufti calls on citizens to vote in referendum
Egypt’s Grand Mufti, Shawky Allam, called on citizens to vote in the upcoming referendum and to ignore claims that the draft constitution contradicts…
Egypt mourns Mandela’s passing
Interim President Adly Mansour issued a presidential decree on Friday instituting three days of mourning to mark the passing of Nelson Mandela,…
Presidential spokesperson slams Guardian coverage
Egypt’s presidential spokesperson came out swinging at London-based newspaper The Guardian on Monday, claiming it had become the “mouthpiece of the counter-revolution.”…
Presidential spokesperson meets with, praises Tagammu Party
Social justice must be a policy rather than merely a slogan, presidential spokesperson Ahmed al-Moslemany said in a press conference today at…
Your support is the only way to ensure independent, progressive journalism survives.
You have a right to access accurate information, be stimulated by innovative and nuanced reporting, and be moved by compelling storytelling. Subscribe now to become part of the growing community of members who help us maintain our editorial independence.
Join us