Prime Minister Sherif Ismail has asked for support from members of the House of Representatives as he presents the government’s proposed action plan for the coming period before MPs on Sunday.
The awaited proposal comes a few days after the Cabinet conducted a partial reshuffle of ten ministers. The parliament is constitutionally required to vote on the government’s proposed plan in 30 days' time, with a negative vote meaning that parliament would have to resign and a new government be formed.
Among the main objectives listed in the proposal are the preservation of national security, the entrenchment of democracy and administrative reform. The proposal lays out the government's plan of action from now until June 2018. The plan is meant to be aligned with Egypt's sustainable development plan agenda, running until 2030.
The PM demanded parliamentry backing as the government face “challenges”, which he listed as national security threats, soaring unemployment, deteriorating social services, widening financial gaps, poor economic competitiveness and a steady population increase — the country having seen a rise from 77 million in 2009 to 90 million at the end of 2015.
Ismail has said that despite the country being at a "dangerous stage", that does not mean to ignore "improvements in performance". Those improvements, he explained, include a surge in economic growth rates from 2 percent to 4.2 percent and a fall in unemployment from 13.3 percent to 12.7 percent.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
