Egypt’s army ruler plans Cabinet reshuffle after parliament suspended sessions

The head of Egypt's ruling military council will start talks on a Cabinet reshuffle, a leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood told Reuters on Sunday, in an apparent concession to the Islamist-dominated parliament’s demand for a new government.

Essam el-Erian, a senior Brotherhood lawmaker, said Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi had told Parliamentary Speaker Saad al-Katatni, another member of the Islamist group, that he would begin talks for the reshuffle.

The move to reshuffle the Cabinet came hours after the Islamists-dominated parliament announced it was suspending the sessions of its lower house for a week to protest the ruling military council’s longtime refusal to dissolve the Cabinet.

The legislature’s speaker, Katatni, announced the decision on Sunday after lawmakers spoke in a televised session against the government of Prime Minister Kamal el-Ganzouri and the ruling generals who appointed it late last year.

“There has to be a solution to this crisis...there has to be a solution...and that is why i suggest suspending the parliament’s sessions for a week,” Katatni said.

El-Ganzouri served as prime minister during the 1990s under longtime authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak, toppled in a popular uprising 14 months ago.

The parliament’s decision followed a night of violence marked with protests outside the defense ministry in the Egyptian capital to call for an end to military rule.

The clashes lasted till dawn, with both sides throwing rocks and petrol bombs and firing buckshot, a member of the security forces said.

Security officials said the clashes broke out when the assailants set upon the protesters. Rocks, fireworks, empty glass bottles and firebombs were used in three hours of street battles. At least 30 were wounded.

Troops and police made no attempt to stop the violence.

Many of the protesters were supporters of an ultraconservative politician angered by his disqualification from running in next month’s presidential election.

The health ministry said 91 people were wounded, most of them lightly.

Protests in Egypt since the popular uprising that toppled president Hosni Mubarak last year have often turned violent, with thugs working for the country’s military leadership frequently blamed.

The electoral commission on April 14 barred 10 candidates, including the Muslim Brotherhood’s Khairat al-Shater and the former president’s intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, from standing in the poll to choose Mubarak’s successor.

Salafist candidate Hazem Abu Ismail’s nomination was rejected because his mother had taken joint US citizenship, but many of his supporters believe he was the victim of a “plot” by the authorities.

The first round of the presidential election is scheduled for May 23 and 24, and the interim military leadership has promised to hand power to an elected civilian president by the end of June.