Political forces praise Cabinet resignation

Following Prime Minister Hazem al-Beblawi’s televised address announcing his Cabinet’s resignation, groups spanning the political spectrum lauded the decision, with some calling it overdue.

Younis Makhyoun, head of the conservative Salafi Nour Party, welcomed the news, saying it was clear the Cabinet had been struggling.

Makhyoun said he hoped the incoming government would make some drastic policy changes, reported the state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper.

It is still not clear whether the Nour Party would be a part of the new government, Makhyoun said, but should the opportunity present itself, that decision would be up to the party’s members.

The grassroots group Tamarod (Rebel) also praised resignation, issuing a statement on its official website that the people rejected Beblawi’s Cabinet, as it did not work well with the Egyptian street.

The movement called on current Housing Minister Ibrahim Mehleb to assume Beblawi’s role, calling Mehleb “a minister for the Egyptian street.”

Tamarod also called for Sedky Sobhi to be appointed defense minister in place of Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who is widely predicted to run in the upcoming presidential election.

The left-leaning April 6 Youth Movement also rode the wave of praise, saying in a statement that this government had “wronged the Egyptian people and the January 25 and June 30 revolutions,” and its resignation was overdue.

The movement criticized the government’s performance, saying it failed to solve problems related to security, economy and social justice.

The Cabinet had also been tarnished by the presence of Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim, a holdover from the previous Muslim Brotherhood-dominant government, the statement said. April 6 claimed that his affiliation was “evident in instances where he sided with the group over the revolution,” but that Ibrahim was now trying to portray himself as the minister of the June 30 revolution.

The movement reiterated its calls from April 2013 to prosecute Ibrahim for “his crimes against revolutionaries under [deposed President] Mohamed Morsi’s reign and his current tenure for his torture practices in prisons and police stations.”

The Revolutionary Forces Bloc also joined the chorus, saying it had long called for Beblawi’s “weak and confused” government to step down.

In a statement, the bloc’s head Safwat Omran said that over the past few months the government showed “political stupidity that made its resignation a national duty.”

Omran called for the next government to be neutral and to include technocratic ministers, and to steer clear of members of either former regimes.

However, some came to the outgoing prime minister’s defense. Amr Moussa lauded Beblawi’s efforts during difficult times which may have impeded his performance.

Moussa told Al-Ahram that he hoped the people would recognize the government’s challenges given the country’s dire economic and financial conditions.

The Brotherhood-affiliated Freedom and Justice Party’s online portal said the move comes to “absorb Egyptians’ anger,” and warned that it was the first step for Sisi’s ascendance to the presidency.

The FJP also slammed Mehleb’s former membership in Mubarak’s National Democratic Party.