Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi surprised the nation by naming an obscure bureaucrat as his new prime minister to form a government that will likely be held in check by military leaders.
The appointment of Hesham Kandil, water minister under the outgoing military-appointed Cabinet, kept with Morsi's vow that his prime minister would not come from the Muslim Brotherhood's party. Morsi, who ran as a Muslim Brotherhood candidate, is under pressure from secularists and Christians not to choose a government dominated by Islamists.
But the untested Kandil faces enormous challenges. The country is beset by financial problems, sharpening political divisions, religious mistrust and the tight grip of generals controlling legislative powers and limiting the authority of the president. 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.
LOS ANGELES TIMES
