Mursi names little-known minister as Egypt PM

Cairo, 25 Jul – (ANA) - President Mohamed Mursi has appointed Irrigation Minister Hisham Kandil as Egypt's prime minister-designate but critics questioned whether the little-known technocrat had the political or economic experience for the job.

Investors had been hoping for someone able to tackle Egypt's urgent economic problems and the main stock market fell 1 percent on the appointment, which was announced three weeks after Mursi was sworn in.

The time it had taken Mursi to name his new prime minister underlined how Egypt is struggling to turn the new political freedom brought by the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak into an effective government.

Mursi, a Muslim Brotherhood politician and the country's first civilian president, is seeking to stamp his authority on a state where the military that assumed power from Mubarak last year still looms large.

Highlighting the continued influence of the generals, Kandil said Mursi was in contact with them on the choice of the new defence minister, a post currently held by Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, who held the post under Mubarak.

Critics of Mursi's Islamist movement questioned his choice of a prime minister who they said lacked the clout to bridge deep political divisions.

But his appointment will allow Mursi to exert greater control over a day to day government that is still being overseen by a cabinet appointed last year by the military leadership, which handed authority to Mursi on June 30. (ANA)

FA/ANA/25 July 2012---------