On 18 September, Egypt's 123rd cabinet was formed under Prime Minister Sherif Ismail, almost 140 years after the formation of the country's first modern government. In September 1878, the Khedive Ismail ordered Nubar Pasha to form a cabinet that had among its members Ali Pasha Mubarak as minister of education and awqaf (religious endowments) The 123 cabinets formed since then tell a story of Egypt's political, economic and social development. Governments were removed and others were replaced at critical times in the nation's history. The first batch of governments that appeared under the British occupation often failed to survive more than a few weeks at a time. But during the period spanning 36 years under former president Hosni Mubarak, the country had only seven cabinets, not counting minor reshuffles. Over the past four years and because of the political instability that followed the 25 January Revolution, seven governments have been formed — equal to the number in the 30 years of Mubarak's rule. The shortest government in Egyptian history was that of Ahmed Naguib Al-Hilali Pasha, which was formed on 22 July 1952, just a day before the Free Officers Revolution rendered it obsolete. The longest in recent memory was that of Ahmed Nazif in the 1990s, which lasted for 11 years. Between July 1952 and January 2011, Egypt had 46 cabinets. Of these, five were under the presidency of Mohamed Naguib, 12 under Gamal Abdel-Nasser, 16 under Anwar Al-Sadat, and 13 under Hosni Mubarak. Between January 2011 and September 2015, Egypt had eight cabinets, of which three were under the former ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), one under ousted president Mohamed Morsi, and two under transitional president Adli Mansour, with the final two being under President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi. This year, the cabinet headquarters witnessed an unprecedented event when Salah Helal, a former minister of agriculture, was arrested in connection with a corruption scandal as he stepped out of the cabinet premises. A few hours before the arrest, prosecutors had issued an arrest warrant for him. At the end of the weekly meeting of the cabinet, Helal was asked to tender his resignation. Moments later, he was in police custody. Many people have thought that Ismail's government, formed in September, is an interim government that will not last more than a few months. This notion was born of the tradition that says a new government should be formed after the election of the new parliament, in keeping with constitutional traditions. As a result, many of those nominated for ministerial positions in the Ismail cabinet declined to accept them. But President Al-Sisi gave the new government the kiss of life when he said that under the constitution the government would not have to resign after the elections. It would simply need to present its programme to the new parliament, and if the parliament approved it, it would stay in office. It is therefore ironic that this government, which many considered to be an interim one, will be the first that the president has not been able to dismiss or even reshuffle without the consent of at least one-third of the parliament, in keeping with the constitution. The ministers of the Ismail government are now preparing a comprehensive government programme to present to the parliament. It will be the first since the declaration of the republic in June 1953 whose future depends on the parliament's approval of its programme. The 2014 Constitution gives extensive powers to the government, including immunity against dismissal by the president without parliamentary approval, and allowing the parliamentary majority to name the prime minister if it wishes to do so. But some expect the constitutional provisions giving the parliament such powers to be amended in the course of next year, if a campaign led by some public figures succeeds in persuading the parliament to amend the constitution. The Ismail government also failed in its first practical test when torrential rains hit the coastal city of Alexandria in October. The president wasted no time in holding a meeting with the government and instructed it to change its methods of crisis management. The government survived the pressures with the least possible damage, choosing to dismiss the Alexandria governor from his post. It then did the same in the recent exchange-rate crisis, deciding to dismiss the Central Bank governor following a sharp increase in the dollar's exchange rate versus the pound. The crash of the Russian plane after it had took off from Sharm El-Sheikh on 30 October constituted another challenge for the government, but one it handled it with remarkable success.
SIXTY YEARS OF GOVERNMENT: The first government after the 1952 Revolution was led by Mohamed Naguib and formed on the same day the republic was announced. The second cabinet was also led by Naguib, with 20 ministers on board and Gamal Abdel-Nasser serving as interior minister. Fellow Free Officers Abdel-Latif Al-Baghdadi was minister of defence and Salah Salem was minister of national guidance. On 22 February 1954, Naguib resigned in protest against the arrest of key national figures, including Wafd Party leader Mustafa Al-Nahhas, and Nasser took over the reins of government. From 25 February to 8 March 1954, Nasser was prime minister of a cabinet of 19 ministers. He promoted his long-time friend Abdel-Hakim Amer to major-general and made him commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. From 8 March to 17 April 1954, Naguib resumed his post as prime minister after protestors took to the streets demanding his return. Naguib's cabinet included 18 ministers, and Nasser continuing to serve as vice-premier. From 17 April to 28 June 1956, Nasser became prime minister in a cabinet of 24 ministers. Salah Salem became minister of Sudan affairs. Naguib stayed on as president, but only temporarily. He was dismissed from all public posts on 14 November 1954. From 29 June 1956 to 7 October 1958, Nasser served as both president and prime minister in a cabinet of 21 ministers. This was the first government to be formed following the new 1956 Constitution. In the aftermath of the 1956 Suez War, known as the Tripartite Aggression in Egypt, Nasser created a new ministry, called the Ministry of Port Said Affairs, and set up the ministries of agricultural reform and public works. From 7 October 1958 to 20 September 1960, Noureddin Tarraf, the first civilian prime minister since the abolition of the monarchy, served as prime minister. His cabinet was formed after the establishment of the Egyptian-Syrian Union, christened the United Arab Republic (UAR), on 22 February 1958. The UAR's interim constitution, ratified on 5 March 1958, abolished regional ministries and created a Cairo-based united cabinet. A united parliament, known as the Maglis Al-Ummah, or Council of the Nation, was also formed. From 20 September 1960 to 28 September 1962, in the turbulent days before the union with Syria collapsed, Kamaleddin Hussein took charge of the cabinet. His cabinet, which included Syrian ministers Akram Al-Hurani and Salaheddin Al-Bitar, lasted a little over a week, however, and the two-state union was formally disbanded on 28 September 1962. From 29 September 1962 to 1 October 1965, Ali Sabri led a cabinet of 25 ministers. He created new ministries for the Aswan High Dam, scientific research and higher education. On 25 March 1964, ministries were created for electrical power, housing and utilities, and irrigation; the Ministry of Industry was divided into two, one for light industry and one for heavy industry. From 1 October 1965 to 10 September 1966, Zakaria Mohieddin served as prime minister and minister of the interior in a cabinet of 22 ministers. He set up a Ministry for Tourism and Antiquities. From 10 September 1966 to 19 June 1967, Mohamed Sidki Suleiman served as prime minister in a cabinet of 26 ministers. Mohieddin had earlier resigned in a row over the introduction of austerity measures. From 19 June 1967 to 28 September 1970, Nasser himself served as both president and prime minister in a cabinet of 28 ministers. His main objective was to rebuild the country's economy and defence after the 1967 War. He brought in Mahmoud Riad as foreign minister, Mohamed Fawzi as minister of defence, and Tharwat Okasha as minister of culture. Nasser died on 28 September 1970. From 20 October 1970 to 17 January 1972, Mahmoud Fawzi became prime minister in a cabinet of 26 ministers. This was the first cabinet Sadat's rule. Fawzi introduced two new ministries, one for civil aviation and another for mineral resources. From 17 January 1972 to 26 March 1973, Aziz Sidqi served as prime minister in a cabinet of 32 ministers. He introduced a Ministry for Maritime Transportation. From 26 March 1973 to 20 September 1974, Sadat served both as president and prime minister in a cabinet of 30 ministers. He sought to assert his authority in the face of student protests and ahead of the 6 October 1973 War. He brought in novelist Youssef Al-Sibaai as minister of culture. From 25 September 1974 to 16 April 1975, Abdel-Aziz Hegazi led a cabinet of 35 ministers, introducing a ministry for oversight and another for petroleum. He began implementing Sadat's Open Door economic reform policies and passed laws to stimulate foreign investment. From 16 April 1975 to 5 October 1978, Mamdouh Salem, a former interior minister, became prime minister, leading a cabinet of 28 ministers. Negotiations with Israel were underway, and Sadat needed Salem to pacify the home front. Salem cracked down on protestors during the riots of January 1977. From 5 October 1978 to 14 May 1980, Mustafa Khalil led a cabinet of 33 ministers, creating a Ministry for Construction and Urban Communities. From 14 May 1980 to 6 October 1981, Sadat himself led a cabinet of 29 ministers. Faced with widespread criticism over the Peace Treaty with Israel, Sadat arrested hundreds of opponents on 5 September 1981. He was assassinated a month later. From 6 October 1981 to 2 January 1982, Hosni Mubarak assumed power as acting president and led a cabinet of 25 ministers, all of them members of Sadat's last cabinet. From 3 January 1982 to 5 June 1984, Fouad Mohieddin led a cabinet of 30 ministers. He appointed Kamal Al-Ganzouri as minister of planning and Safwat Al-Sherif as minister of information. From 5 June 1984 to 4 September 1985, former intelligence chief Kamal Hassan Ali was appointed prime minister, leading a cabinet of 32 ministers. Ali also served as interior minister in the same cabinet. From 5 September 1985 to 9 November 1986, economist Ali Lotfi served as prime minister in a cabinet of 30 ministers, replacing Ali who had resigned for health reasons. Lotfi was also chairman of the Economic Committee of the then ruling National Democratic Party (NDP). From 11 November 1986 to 2 January 1996, Atef Sedki served as prime minister in a cabinet of 30 ministers. Egypt was then subjected to a campaign of violence by Islamist extremists, one of whom assassinated writer Farag Fouda in the early 1990s. The government lasted for ten years, during which it promoted Open Door-type policies and sought to rein in the influence of extremists. From 4 January 1996 to 5 October 1999, Kamal Al-Ganzouri became prime minister in a cabinet of 30 ministers. In July 1997, following the killing of 58 people by extremists in the Luxor massacre, Al-Ganzouri fired Hassan Al-Alfi from the Interior Ministry and replaced him with Habib Al-Adli. From 10 October 1999 to 9 July 2004, Atef Ebeid became prime minister in a cabinet of 32 ministers. A former public sector minister, Ebeid initiated a wide-scale programme of privatisation. He kept several long-serving ministers in his cabinet, including Safwat Al-Sherif, Youssef Boutros Ghali and Farouk Hosni. He floated the Egyptian pound in 2003, ending the multi-tiered exchange rate the country had pursued for years. From 9 July 2004 to 30 December 2005, former telecommunications minister Ahmed Nazif became prime minister in a cabinet of 34 ministers. At 52, Nazif was the youngest prime minister in Egyptian history. He brought several prominent businessmen into the government, including Rashid Mohamed Rashid as minister of trade and Mohamed Lotfi Mansour as minister of transport. From 31 December 2005 to 29 January 2011, Nazif was reinstated in office after Mubarak's win in the presidential elections in 2005. He closed down the Ministry of Youth and Sports and continued to pursue pro-business policies. His government stepped down days after the 25 January Revolution. From 31 January to 3 March 2011, Ahmed Shafik, a former minister of civil aviation, became prime minister in a government of 25 ministers. He was the last prime minister to be appointed by Mubarak and continued to serve for a few weeks under the then-ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. From 3 March to 1 December 2011, Essam Sharaf, a former transport minister, became prime minister in a cabinet of 29. His association with the 25 January Revolution earned him the post, and he started his new career by visiting Cairo's Tahrir Square to pay homage to the young revolutionaries. But his cash-starved government failed to rise to the nation's rising expectations, and the post-revolutionary turmoil proved too daunting for the government's attempts to restart the economy. From 1 December 2011 to 25 June 2012, Al-Ganzouri was called in to serve as prime minister once again in a cabinet of 30 ministers. His cabinet, in which half of Sharaf's ministers stayed put, took over amid widespread riots following bloody confrontations near the cabinet's offices on 16 December 2011. As prime minister, Al-Ganzouri tried to steer the economy towards stability, but like most post-revolutionary politicians, he spent most of his time fire-fighting rather than formulating consensual policies. From 24 July 2012 to 8 July 2013, Hesham Kandil, a 50-year-old former minister of water resources and irrigation, became prime minister in a cabinet of 30 ministers. His was the first and last cabinet to serve under ousted president Mohamed Morsi. From 16 July 2013 to 24 February 2014, Hazem Al-Biblawi, a former minister of finance, became prime minister in a cabinet of 33 ministers. He was the first prime minister to be appointed by interim President Adli Mansour. Al-Biblawi introduced a new Ministry for Transitional Justice, and brought back the Ministry of Investment. Continued riots plagued his tenure, and he resigned in frustration over the proliferation of labour strikes. From 24 February to 8 June 2014, Ibrahim Mehleb, a former housing minister, became prime minister in a cabinet of 31 ministers. He kept half of Al-Biblawi's ministers in office, but resigned for reasons of protocol upon the election of Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi as president on 8 June 2014. From 17 June 2014 to 12 September 2015, Mehleb was reinstated as prime minister in a cabinet of 34 ministers. He introduced a Ministry of State for Urban Development and Informal Areas and abolished the ministries of information and administrative development. His justice minister resigned in May 2015 over statements deemed offensive to the working classes. His agriculture minister was arrested in September 2015 over corruption charges. The government was also shaken by continued labour protests against a new civil service law that changed the rules for the promotion of government employees. From 19 September 2015 to the present, Sherif Ismail, a former minister of petroleum and mineral resources, has been prime minister in a cabinet of 33 ministers. He has kept half of Mehleb's ministers in office, merged several ministries (higher education and scientific research, health and population, and education and technical education), renamed the Ministry of Transitional Justice as the Ministry of Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, and created a new Ministry of State for Immigration and Expatriate Affairs.
THE SHWIKAR PALACE: The cabinet's current headquarters on Qasr Al-Aini Street is located in what was formerly known as the Shwikar Palace. This Italianate mansion, hardly visible from the street today, was once home to Princess Shwikar (1847-1947), a great-great-granddaughter of Mohamed Ali and, for a while, wife of the future King Fouad I. Princess Shwikar was the daughter of Prince Ibrahim Fahmi and Princess Nagwa. She was married to Prince Ahmed Fouad, later King Fouad I, but the two had serious marital troubles. When Shwikar complained to her brother, Prince Ahmed Seifeddin, that Ahmed Fouad was physically abusing her, the brother shot the future king at the Mohamed Ali Club, seriously injuring him. Seifeddin claimed insanity, was incarcerated for a while in Egypt, and then spent time in a mental institution in the UK, after which his whereabouts became the subject of conflicting media gossip. Shwikar herself remained in Egypt with her full titles and managed to keep up cordial relations with the young prince who was to become King Farouk I. She ran a number of charities, started a women's magazine in 1945 called Al-Maraah Al-Gadidah, and entertained politicians and writers at her famous Sunday salon. The Shwikar Palace once commanded an unobstructed view of Qasr Al-Dubara and Saray Ismailia across the area's tree-lined streets. Neither of the last two buildings still stands, but the ley line of what was once monarchical glamour can still be seen in the trappings of modern bureaucracy. Princess Shwikar sold the palace to King Farouk, the son of her former husband, who turned it into the cabinet headquarters. The Saray Ismailia gave way to the commanding presence of the Mugamma, a vast building designed on modernist lines, which has served as government offices since it was finished in 1951. Shwikar bought the palace from Ali Pasha Galal, another member of the royal family, and renovated it in the highest Italian and French fashion of the period. When Farouk bought the palace, Shwikar moved out of the palace and into a house built by her son, Mohamed Wahideddin, in Matariya, where she lived until her death in 1947. In 1987, 40 years after her death, the Matariya building was given historic status, legally protecting it from demolition or alteration.
