Cairo: President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi has appointed two ex-officials as his advisors, state television reported Wednesday night, a step apparently taken in response to calls on the Egyptian leader to set up a presidential team.
Al Sissi, who took office in June, named Fayza Abu Al Najaa, a minister of international cooperation in the era of the now-deposed president Hosni Mubarak, as advisor for national security affairs, the broadcaster said.
Al Sissi also appointed ex-interior minister Ahmad Jamal Al Din as anti-terrorism advisor.
Al Din served for months as interior minister under Islamist president Mohammad Mursi, who was ousted by the army in mid-2013 following enormous street protests against his rule.
Al Sissi’s picking of Abu Al Najaa has drawn instant criticism.
“Your Excellency the president, you say you want young people to assist in building the country,” tweeted Mohammad Abu Al Aziz, a co-founder of the grassroots Tamarod (Rebellion) movement that mobilized the protests against the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mursi prior to his overthrow. “Now you come to appoint Fayza Abu Al Najaa an advisor. Do you think the youth will feel happy?” Abdul Aziz added.
Abu Al Najaa, a former diplomat, served as minister of international cooperation for 10 years under Mubarak.
After Mubarak was forced to step down in a 2011 uprising, the interim military rulers who took over after him kept Abu Al Najaa in three successive governments.
Her detractors call her a “women of all eras”. Her backers describe her as competent and courageous.
