Cairo: Egypt’s first democratically-elected President Mohammed Mursi is facing a daunting struggle with the country’s military rulers over allotment of cabinet posts in the next government, according to a report.
The judiciary and the military, which ceded power to Mursi, are now his uneasy partners, with each vying for authority in an ill-defined governance system that had earlier withstood constant change and manipulation.
The immediate task ahead for Mursi will be to choose a cabinet, a delicate enterprise that will be closely scrutinised by liberal-minded leaders, the Wall Street Journal reports.
These leaders had agreed to support the Muslim Brotherhood leader on condition that he appoints a power-sharing government staffed mostly with ministers from outside the powerful Islamist group to which Mursi once swore loyalty.
But few secular-minded politicians are likely to savour the prospect of taking a subservient position to a presidency that many Egyptians believe will act as an extension of the organisation.
“Not many people will want to be seen as taking orders from a Muslim Brotherhood President, certainly not any politician who is independent-minded,” the paper quoted Mazen Hassan, a political analyst at Cairo University, as saying.
“His options are quite limited as I can see,” he added.
According to the paper, representatives from two of the most prominent secular-leaning political parties, the Free Egyptians Party and the Egyptian Social Democratic Party, said Mursi’s office hadn`t yet approached them with offers of cabinet posts for any of their members.
Meanwhile, local media reported that Mursi has put out feelers for potential ministers in his new cabinet.
The newspaper, which quoted unnamed sources close to Mursi, said that the new cabinet would be announced within 48 hours.
ANI
