Egypt’s interim PM Kamal Ganzouri empowered with presidential power

On Wednesday, the military regime of Egypt has awarded their new interim Premier with country’s highest power before inducting him into the cabinet. This allows Prime Minister Kamal Ganzouri with power almost equivalent to that of a president except the power to control judiciary and military forces.

It is reported that Muslim Brotherhood and other political parties have opposed the way the current regime has misused their power to bulldoze on people’s aspiration for a change in the political guard. They were vociferous in their attack on the military, who they said, had no authority selecting 80-year-old Ganzouri as the Prime minister. The cabinet headed by Kamal Ganzouri would be functional until the presidential elections.

With the first phase of parliamentary voting over, there is still a long way to go before Egyptians get their first taste of civilian government. As of now Muslim Brotherhood is believed to be leading with 40 percent or more votes, while ultraconservative Salafi Al-Nour party as the close second.

Egypt parliamentary poll results expected on Saturday

Saturday could be the D-day for Egypt when its first of the three-stage parliamentary election results would come out. Initially, the results were expected to be declared on Thursday. Then the date of the Egypt parliamentary poll results was deferred to the next day, Friday, calling the huge turnout as the official reason for the delay. A recent announcement by the Supreme Council of Egypt’s present military regime has confirmed that Egyptians would have to wait for another more day, i.e. Saturday, to know the poll outcome. The official reason cited this time is delay in counting of votes in some constituencies.

This week, Egypt went to poll on Monday and Tuesday for the election of representatives for the lower house of the parliament. The large turnout for the two days of Egypt parliamentary elections has been estimated at 62 percent, though many have questioned its veracity. Till now, Muslim Brotherhood led Freedom and Justice Party and the ultraconservative Al Noor Salafi Muslim Party seem to be in a commanding position. If either of these parties gets to the seat of power, that would further strengthen the dominance of Islam-oriented parties in the Middle East.