Cairo: Egypt’s Islamist President Mohammad Mursi has replaced 17 of the nation’s 27 governors in a shake-up tightening his Muslim Brotherhood group on the provincial governorates.
Seven of the new 17 governors belong to the Brotherhood, whom the secular-minded opposition accuses of seeking to tighten its hold in the turbulent country.
The seven governors have taken over Qaliubia north of Cairo, the Delta provinces of Menuifia, Gharbia, Dakhalia and Beheira as well as the Upper Egyptian provinces of Fayyoum and Beni Sueif.
The appointments bring to 12 the total number of the provinces headed by governors from the Brotherhood. Meanwhile, Adel Assad, a member of the ultra-conservative Salafist Building and Development Party, has been named as governor of Luxor, a traditional destination for foreign tourists.
Seven army generals have been named governors in the shake-up announced late Sunday. They include Gen. Samaha Mohammad for the Suez Canal city of Port Saeed, which was hit by deadly violence last January when a court sentenced 21 of its people to death over deadly soccer rioting.
The new governors are to be sworn in by Mursi on Monday, according to the state media.
The shake-up comes two weeks before massive protests planned by the opposition nationwide to push for Mursi’s ouster and early presidential elections.
Mursi’s opponents accuse him of misruling the country hit by economic woes and security breakdown.
Mursi and his Islamist allies blame the problems on alleged instability stirred up by the opposition and loyalists of toppled president Hosni Mubarak.
