Several opposition figures criticised a cabinet reshuffle announced on Tuesday, which, according to Reuters, increased the number of ministers affiliated to the Muslim Brotherhood in government.  

"The cabinet reshuffle failed to achieve the minimum of what people aspire for; people want a technocratic government that is unbiased," Tagamoa Party Spokesman Nabil Zaky told Aswat Masriya.

Zaky added that President Mohamed Mursi, who once led the Brotherhood's political arm, is "keen on the Brotherhoodisation of the state through polarisation."

The spokesman added that he expects the governors' reshuffle to include even more Brotherhood officials.

"The bottom line is that the ruler's priority at the moment is the Brotherhoodisation (of the state) to achieve two goals; the short-term goal is to fix the upcoming election and the long-term goal is to prevent any chance of peaceful power transfer in the future," Zaky said.

Ex-MP Mohamed Abu Hamed commented that the reshuffle was unsatisfying as long as Mursi remained president.

"There is no alternative to the removal of President Mohamed Mursi," Abu Hamed said, adding that "Mursi is the secretariat of the Brotherhood and his PM is only his secretariat. Reshuffling the government without removing the president is pointless."   

He insisted that as long as Mursi remains president, power will remain in the hand of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Ghad Party leader Ayman Nour posted on his Twitter account that the cabinet reshuffle is “disappointing” and that Hisham Kandil's remaining in his post makes the reshuffle in vain.

A leader in the "April 6" youth movement, Mohamed Adel, also described the cabinet reshuffle as "disappointing", adding that the changes are only superficial and far from the core issues.

Adel considered the reshuffle a "slap in the face" to Mursi's opponents, including conservatives, who were, like liberals, excluded from government.

Adel also criticized that all economy-related ministry posts are now in the grip of the Brotherhood.

Earlier today, Yehia Hamed was appointed Investment Minister, Amr Darrag was appointed Planning and International Cooperation Minster and Fayyad Abdel Moneim was appointed Finance Minister.

Adel considered the reshuffle an attempt to satisfy the conditions of the International Monetary Fund, predicting harsher policies to emerge soon.

Egypt is trying to secure a $4.8 million IMF loan, and as part of the deal, the IMF has asked Egypt to reduce its budget deficit, cut down its fuel subsidies and increase its tax revenues.

The Human Rights Committee Chairman, Hafez Abu Saada, said that he believes that the reshuffle will further delay national dialogue and consensus, describing it as "polarisation of power and marginalisation of the opposition."

"I do not understand the reshuffle. It is an outright failure," Abu Saada told AM, wondering whether its purpose was to provoke the opposition.

He added that either a technocrat or national coalition government, with consensus over the election law to guarantee transparency, is the only solution to the current political crisis.
 
On a different note, he demanded the removal of the prosecutor-general, accusing him of arresting opposition figures who have not been charged with any crimes.