Egypt sets poll timetable as killings threaten transition

Former FM Hazem El-Beblawi to serve as interim prime minister

Egypt's presidency named former Finance Minister Hazem El-Beblawi to serve as interim prime minister, leading a government that will administer new elections and work to revive a crumbling economy.

El-Beblawi, who served as a finance minister in the transitional period after the 2011 removal of Hosni Mubarak, inherits a nation reeling from the July 3 ouster of Mohamed Mursi, an Islamist who last year became Egypt's first democratically elected civilian President.

A critic of Mursi's economic policies, El-Beblawi will take ownership of an economy stuck in the worst slowdown in two decades, record unemployment and the highest budget deficit in West Asia. His appointment was announced by the presidency of Adly Mansour on Tuesday in an e-mailed statement. Opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei was expected to be named as vice-president for foreign affairs, according to the state-run news agency.

While the rocky transition from Mursi's leadership lurched forward, Egypt received some relief today in the form of $3 billion in much-needed aid from the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia, too, approved $5 billion in aid. The Saudi funds comprise a $2-billion central bank deposit, $2 billion in energy products, and $1 billion in cash, Saudi Finance Minister Ibrahim Alassaf told Reuters.

The International Monetary Fund, meanwhile, in its first comments since Mursi's overthrow, said it was following developments in Egypt closely and considering their implications for its work in helping Egypt address its serious economic challenges, a spokesman said. Egypt has been in talks for two years with the IMF for a $4.8-billion loan.

Charter changes
Mansour set out a blueprint on Monday for parliamentary and presidential elections in a bid to put Egypt on course to end the unrest and economic stagnation. The deaths of at least 54 people in a confrontation outside a Republican Guards building in Cairo on Monday imperilled the transition process.

The 33-article constitutional declaration that set out the framework for elections gave a timeline rather than specific target dates.

Parliamentary elections will be called within 15 days of the results of a referendum on proposed amendments to the suspended 2012 Islamist-backed charter, whose ratification outraged Mursi opponents.

The actual vote will take place one to two months later, according to a copy of the declaration e-mailed by the presidency. A presidential vote would be called within the week after parliament convenes. Mansour retains legislative powers until parliament is elected.