EU greets New Prime Minster and assures to support Egypt

Cairo - The High Commissioner for Foreign Affairs and Security of the European Union said that the EU intends to form working groups in Egypt to identify the assistance necessary for both the Egyptian public and private sectors.

Catherine Ashton told a news conference at the conclusion of the Conference of European Foreign Ministers on Monday that her meeting with President Mohamed Morsy was very fruitful, and emphasized the need to support Egypt in the transitional period due to its importance in the region.

Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf has congratulated Dr Hesham Kandil, Prime Minister of the Arab Republic of Egypt on assumption of the office of Prime Minister of Egypt.In his message of felicitations, the Prime Minister said.

HE the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor Al Thani has sent a cable of congratulations to Dr Hisham Kandil on his appointment to form a new government of the Arab Republic of Egypt.

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi surprised the nation Tuesday by naming an obscure bureaucrat as his new prime minister to form a government that probably will be held in check by military leaders during an unsteady transition to democracy.

The appointment of Hesham Kandil, water minister in the outgoing military-appointed Cabinet, kept with Morsi's vow that his prime minister would not come from the Muslim Brotherhood's political party.

Morsi, who ran as a Brotherhood candidate, is under pressure from secularists and Christians not to choose a government dominated by Islamists.

The choice was a gamble for Morsi, whose credibility will hinge on how quickly Kandil's unity government can finesse political compromises and stem unemployment, inflation and low wages.

"Patience is required," Kandil said in a brief news conference.He said that the country's era of corruption had ended and that he would work to implement the economic and social goals of Morsi's so-called renaissance program.

The selection of Kandil, who was born in 1962 and is the youngest prime minister in Egyptian history, ended weeks of intrigue.Leading Islamist and liberal politicians have shied away from Morsi's overtures to fill government posts.

It is unclear whether Kandil's association with the old Cabinet will taint him and whether the military will allow him to independently name ministers for defense, foreign affairs and the interior.

Like Morsi, who was sworn in as president last month, Kandil is a technocrat and a conservative Islamist.

Both wear light beards and received doctorates in engineering in the United States, Morsi from USC and Kandil from the University of North Carolina.

Kandil served as a senior water engineer in President Hosni Mubarak's government and was appointed minister of irrigation and water resources in 2011.Kandil's ascent startled, divided and angered the political elite.

Kandil accompanied Morsi to the recent African Union summit.The meeting was important to Cairo for restoring regional relations that had soured under Mubarak, especially with nations through which the Nile flows.

Egypt holds the river's major water rights but is under pressure from Ethiopia and other countries that want larger shares for farming, electricity and development.

Kandil has worked with the African Development Bank and the Nile Basin Initiative, which outlines water rights and will be crucial in determining Egypt's future water supplies.

But many analysts and politicians wondered whether he would be too pliable and lack the political savvy to navigate the country's more immediate threat: the military's political power.

In this context, Mahmoud Shahouta, a member in economic committee of Shura council sees that the country is beset by financial problems, sharpening political divisions and religious mistrust, and is under the tight grip of a cadre of generals, which controls legislative powers and has limited the authority of the president.