A new supply minister has been selected to replace Khaled Hanafy, who resigned recently, with the new appointment to be announced at parliament's closing session on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Sherif Ismail and President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi have made their selection, but the identity of the next minister has not yet been revealed, Al-Masry Al-Youm has been informed.
According to informed government sources, the appointment is likely to be one of four senior figures, one of which is Major General Mahmoud Nasr, a member of the Supreme Council of Armed Forces and previously in charge of parliament’s financial affairs.
Also on the list is Ibrahim Hassanein, who was previously at the Armed Forces’s Supply Authority before heading the board of the Food Industries Holding Company (FIHC), after its ownership was transferred from Investment Ministry to Supply Ministry, upon Hanafy’s request.
The third name is Major General Abdel Rady Abdel Salam, former chief of the Armed Forces Supply Authority. The fourth is Mamdouh Abdel Fattah, who held a position at the Public Supply Authoritythen at the FIHC. He was also Hanafy’s deputy.
However, the sources said that the prime candidate is Nasr.
Meanwhile, the anticipated cabinet reshuffle resulting from the resignation of Hanafy at the end of August has been postponed until parliament has been consulted, according to the same sources.
Among the options for a reshuffle is giving one minister responsiblity for both the health portfolio and one other.
Other portfolios that have witnessed crisis recently may see changes, such as the ministries of education, higher education, culture and three other service and economic ministries.
Hanafy resigned in late August after mounting accusations of involvement in corruption linked to the government's wheat supply system. He was also criticised for living in a five-star hotel in downtown Cairo.
While Hanafy offered his resignation rather then be sacked, he has insisted that he was not involved in corruption in the wheat supply system, but rather working to stamp it out.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
