Egypt Prime Minister Resigns

CAIRO – Bowing to protestors demanding his resignation, Egypt’s interim Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq stepped down on Thursday, March 3.
“The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces decided to accept the resignation of Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq,” Egypt’s military rulers said in a statement on its Facebook page cited by Reuters.

Shafiq, a former air force officer, was appointed by ousted president Hosni Mubarak in his final days in office before he stepped down on Feb. 11 after an 18-day popular uprising against his rule.
The military council, which took over from Mubarak, ordered Shafiq’s government to run the country’s affairs for six months “or until the end of parliamentary and presidential elections.”
However, protests demanding Shafiq’s resignation never stopped, accusing the former aviation minister of being a close aide to the ousted President.
Seeking to appease the protestors, Shafiq made a cabinet reshuffle last week, a move that failed to satisfy the demonstrators.
The Muslim Brotherhood, the most powerful opposition group in Egypt, and other political groupings had been calling for Shafiq and his government to quit.
The opposition had urged a clean break from the 30 years of Mubarak rule and wanted a cabinet of technocrats appointed in the interim period.

Mubarak Opponent

The military rulers handpicked former transport minister Essam Sharaf to succeed Shafiq.
“The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces…appointed Essam Sharaf to form the new government,” the statement said.
Sharaf, a former transport minister, declared his support for the youth-led uprising in its early days.
He was reportedly said to have joined the protesters in Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the revolt, days before Mubarak stepped down.
A professor of engineering, Sharaf is highly respected among the Egyptian public.
Having served under Mubarak from 2004 to 2006, he has been a vocal opponent of Mubarak’s regime since leaving office.
He resigned four years ago from the cabinet following a deadly train accident.
His resignation came in protest over what he said was a lack of resources to improve the country’s railway network.
Sharaf then returned to academia to teach as a professor at Cairo University. He received a doctorate from America’s Purdue University in 1984.

Source: OnIslam