Sisi favors security appointees for Egypt's governorships
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's decision to appoint security personnel as new governors is quietly controversial.
CAIRO — Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi recently appointed a slate of new governors and deputies that is weighted with police and military leaders at the expense of civilians. The appointments come as parliament is expecting a Cabinet reshuffle.
Of the 16 new governors sworn in Nov. 27, 11 have military or security backgrounds. These military and police lieutenant generals have taken over management of the coastal provinces on the Red Sea and Mediterranean Sea, namely Alexandria, Marsa Matruh and Ismailia, as well as three Nile Delta and northern provinces. Five lieutenant generals will command the Upper Egypt provinces, which have a history of sectarian violence, most notably Minya.
This is not the first time that members of the police and army have made up the majority of the appointed governors. Police and army lieutenant generals, including two former senior commanders of the armed forces, accounted for 19 out of the 27 governors appointed in August 2018.
The 23 newly appointed deputy governors are all young graduates from the National Training Academy and the Presidential Leadership Program — which Sisi established to produce the so-called political "young cadres."
