New PM promises to work on social justice

Newly appointed Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb said, “Egyptian citizens will be patient because they’ve already been patient for a long time,” during a celebration Tuesday to launch projects carried out by the Social Fund for Development, which has received €70 million from the European Union.

The celebration was attended by a number of ministers and governors including Social Solidarity Minister Ghada al-Wali, the regional director of the International bank in Egypt, and EU ambassador James Moran, privately owned daily newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm reported.

Projects receiving support from the fund include 15 NGOs in five upper Egyptian governorates working on training for young women, environmental campaigns for young people and job creation in rural areas, at a total cost of LE15 million, according to Al-Masry Al-Youm.

During his speech, Mehleb said that his cabinet is dedicated to improving vocational and technical education, “which is our lifeboat to survive the economic crisis.”

He continued, “Social justice will not be achieved as long as subsidies go to the rich rather than the poor. We subsidize sports cars while women have to stand in line to buy bread.”

The new prime minister spoke of an agreement with the minister of communication to start a hotline within the next fortnight to receive complaints from citizens and refer them to the cabinet for discussion.

“Egypt has a big heart, we never forget those who stood beside us. Egypt is too big to care about insults,” he said, when asked about the views of other nations.

Chairman of the Lawyers Syndicate Sameh Ashour said he met with Mehleb on Tuesday to discuss demands, including granting lawyers discounts on metro tickets, which the prime minister promised to meet. 

Ashour said he also presented an initiative to suspend and withdraw the protest law, which “the PM promised to study, along with the ministers of justice and interior.”