The ‘unexpected’ new defense minister

Among the new Cabinet members sworn in on Wednesday was former Suez Governor Major General Abdel Meguid Saqr, who took his oath of office as the new defense minister.

The move came amid a reshuffle to leadership positions across the administrative and security establishment, with new appointments to the new Cabinet formation, a reshuffle among the heads of Egypt’s 27 governorates, and, finally, a change to a key role in the Egyptian Armed Forces.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's Wednesday morning decree to promote Saqr to the rank of lieutenant general was somewhat unexpected, following Saqr’s retirement in 2018. Saqr's name had appeared in unofficial lists circulated in the media on Tuesday, but only as a potential candidate for the head of the Local Development Ministry. Sisi’s next step, however, was to appoint Saqr to replace outgoing Defense Minister Lieutenant General Mohamed Zaki in Prime Minister Mostafa Madbuly’s new Cabinet. 

The new defense minister was known for his firmness and severity during his time as Suez governor. Media reports from May said that he conducted surprise drug tests on all employees at the governorate headquarters, district offices and engineering departments during a meeting to discuss development plans for Suez. Before the meeting ended, he instructed attendees not to leave, and a committee entered the room to conduct drug tests on everyone present.

The outgoing Zaki had headed the Republican Guard shortly after former President Mohamed Morsi took office in 2012. Zaki would testify in court, holding Morsi and former Deputy Chief-of-Staff Assad al-Sheikha responsible for the violence that took place outside the Ettehadiya Presidential Palace, before overseeing their arrest and that of others on July 3, 2013.

Zaki was appointed as defense minister in June 2018, succeeding Lieutenant General Sedky Sobhy. 

In an accompanying move, Sisi also appointed Lieutenant General Ahmed Fathy Ibrahim Khalifa as the new chief of staff of the Armed Forces to replace outgoing Lieutenant General Osama Askar.

Given Askar’s seniority and active service in the military leadership in comparison to the retired Saqr, some considered Askar a more obvious choice for the defense portfolio in the new Cabinet line-up.  

Following the resignation of the 2022 Cabinet of ministers, Sisi tasked Prime Minister Mostafa Madbuly with forming a new government on June 3. The outgoing Cabinet continued to act in their roles for a month’s duration until the new ministers were finally appointed on Wednesday.

Government sources told Mada Masr that the selection of the new defense minister was one of the reasons for the lapse of time before the new government was announced. 

Two government sources speaking to Mada Masr on condition of anonymity said that former Defense Minister Mohamed Zaki requested to step down over a year ago due to health issues. One of the sources said that since the Cabinet reshuffle was announced, it was expected that Zaki would be among the key departures. But until last week, the source continued, the bodies involved in selecting the new government had not agreed on a successor for Zaki. According to the source, it was a last-minute decision to select the new defense minister from among former military leaders.

While the two government sources both considered that Sisi had bypassed Askar in choosing Saqr, MP Ahmed al-Awady, chair of the Defense and National Security Committee in the House of Representatives, told Mada Masr that it is the president and the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces’ prerogative to select candidates for the Defense Ministry as they see fit. Awady said there is nothing to prevent their appointing a military figure who is outside active service. "We are not standing in a queue. Selecting the defense minister is subject to various criteria determined by the president,” he said. 

Awady added, “have previous chiefs of staff been appointed as defense ministers to say that Sisi bypassed Askar?"

Of Egypt’s 19 Armed Forces chiefs of staff since independence, at least five have also headed the defense portfolio. 

Askar's trajectory through the Armed Forces include his January 2015 promotion from major general to lieutenant general to oversee military operations and counter-terrorism efforts in North Sinai. Laws at the time allowed him to retire at age 58, yet Sisi issued legislative amendments extending the retirement age for officers at the rank of lieutenant general to 65, changes which prolonged the service of both Askar and Zaki.

In October 2021, Sisi appointed Askar as Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, the third highest position in the military hierarchy after the President, who is supreme commander of the Armed Forces, and the defense minister, who is general commander. Askar succeeded Lieutenant General Mohamed Farid Hegazy, who was appointed presidential advisor for the Hayah Karimah initiative.

Askar's last promotion was followed by a presidential decree in July of the same year, which reduced limits on term duration from a maximum of four years to a maximum of two for chiefs of staff, branch commanders and deputy defense ministers, unless extended by the president. Despite this, the Official Gazette has not published a presidential decision to extend the term of Askar, who is currently 67 years of age, beyond October 2023, though he has continued in his role for nearly a year beyond the two-year mark.

Awady said that it is not unprecedented to appoint a figure like Saqr, who was appointed as governor of Suez in 2018 after his retirement. He drew a parallel to former President Hosni Mubarak’s 1989 appointment of Major General Youssef Sabry Abu Taleb as defense minister after his retirement and service as Cairo governor. Abu Taleb succeeded Defense Minister Mohamed Abdel Halim Abu Ghazala, an example of a former Armed Forces chief of staff who progressed to the Defense Ministry. 

One of the government sources described the new government formation and the newly crafted positions as indicative of a new approach to management on the part of the political leadership. The source pointed to the shuffle of a series of senior figures in political and military positions, including former Justice Minister Omar Marwan who was appointed to direct the President’s Office, succeeding Major General Mohsen Abdel Nabi who was appointed as media advisor to the president, while former Planning Minister Hala al-Saeed was appointed as presidential advisor for economic affairs and Askar was replaced while being retained as an advisor.