Hesham Mohamed Qandil (also spelled: ''Hisham Kandil''; ar, هشام محمد قنديل ; born 17 September 1962) is an Egyptian engineer and civil servant who was
Prime Minister of Egypt
The prime minister of Egypt () is the head of the Egyptian government. A direct translation of the Arabic-language title is "Minister-President of Egypt" and "President of the Government". The Arabic title can also be translated as "President of ...
from 2012 to 2013. Qandil was appointed as Prime Minister by President
Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency was est ...
reported that Qandil was a politically independent senior public servant in the Morsi administration, but was not popularly considered to be a likely candidate for the position of prime minister. Qandil was Egypt's youngest prime minister since
Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein, . (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian politician who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 and introduced far-r ...
's appointment in 1954. When Morsi was overthrown in a coup d'état by the military, Qandil after initially continuing in his role as prime minister until the formation of a new government, resigned from office on 8 July 2013 in protest over the killing of 61 protestors by the military at the
Republican Guard
A republican guard, sometimes called a national guard, is a state organization of a country (often a republic, hence the name ''Republican'') which typically serves to protect the head of state and the government, and thus is often synonymous wi ...
headquarters. He was arrested on 24 December 2013 and released seven months later on 15 July 2014 after he was acquitted by the Court of Cassation, which accepted his appeal and annulled the one-year sentence against him.
Early life and education
Qandil was born in 1962. He holds a bachelor's degree in engineering, which he obtained from
Cairo University
Cairo University ( ar, جامعة القاهرة, Jāmi‘a al-Qāhira), also known as the Egyptian University from 1908 to 1940, and King Fuad I University and Fu'ād al-Awwal University from 1940 to 1952, is Egypt's premier public university ...
in 1984. Then he received a master's degree in irrigation and drainage engineering from
Utah State University
Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah ...
in 1988 and a PhD in biological and agricultural engineering with a minor in water resources from
North Carolina State University
North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The univers ...
in 1993.
Career
After graduation, Qandil joined the Egyptian civil service in the water resources department in 1985. He was granted a presidential award in 1995 for services to irrigation, and was promoted to office director for the minister of water resources from 1999 to 2005. He participated in the work of the Nile Basin Initiative, was an observer member of the Joint Egyptian-Sudanese Water Authority, and helped launch the African Water Council. He was also Chief of Water Resources at the
African Development Bank
The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) or (BAD) is a multilateral development finance institution headquartered in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, since September 2014. The AfDB is a financial provider to African governments and private companies ...
, a position he held for approximately six years, from 2004 to early 2011. He returned to Egypt following the
revolution
In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
Essam Sharaf
Essam Abdel-Aziz Sharaf ( ar, عصام عبد العزيز شرف, ; born 1952) is an Egyptian academic who was the Prime Minister of Egypt from 3 March 2011 to 7 December 2011. He served as Minister of Transportation from 2004 to 2005.
Early ...
's second cabinet.
Prime Minister of Egypt
On 24 July 2012, Qandil was appointed as Prime Minister by President
Mohamed Morsi
Mohamed Mohamed Morsi Eissa al-AyyatThe spellings of his first and last names vary. survey of 14 news organizations plus Wikipedia in July 2012The Majalla''. On 2 August 2012, the newly formed Egyptian cabinet was sworn in consisting of a technocrat-dominated government, with a few political parties (the Freedom and Justice Party, the
Al-Wasat Party
The al-Wasat Party ( ar-at, حزب الوسط, Hizb al-Wasat), translated in English as the Center Party, is a moderate Islamist political party in Egypt.
The party withdrew from the Anti-Coup Alliance on 28 August 2014. A court case was brou ...
Qandil's first cabinet consisted of 35 ministers, including technocrats, the Freedom and Justice Party members, the
Al-Wasat Party
The al-Wasat Party ( ar-at, حزب الوسط, Hizb al-Wasat), translated in English as the Center Party, is a moderate Islamist political party in Egypt.
The party withdrew from the Anti-Coup Alliance on 28 August 2014. A court case was brou ...
On 6 January 2013, ten ministers in the first cabinet of Qandil were changed. The reshuffle included ministry of finance, ministry of local development, ministry of transportation, ministry of legal affairs and parliamentary councils, ministry of electricity, ministry of interior, ministry of supply and social affairs, ministry of environment, ministry of communications and ministry of civil aviation. Following the reshuffle, the number of the ministers who were the members of the Freedom and Justice Party increased to eight in the cabinet.
Cabinet Resignations
On 1 July 2013, five cabinet members resigned together; they were
Hisham Zazou
Hisham Zazou ( ar, هشام زعزوع; born 1954) is an Egyptian businessman and politician who is the former Egyptian minister of tourism. He was one of the ministers who are not affiliated with an Islamist party in the Qandil cabinet. Zazou r ...
, the tourism minister,
Atef Helmi
Atef Helmy Nagib ( ar, عاطف حلمي نجيب; born 23 April 1950) is an Egyptian communication and technology expert and the former minister of communications and information technology.
Early life and education
Atef Helmy was born in Ca ...
, the communications and IT minister, Hatem Bagato, the state minister for legal and parliamentary affairs,
Abdel Qawi Khalifa
Abdel Qawi Khalifa is an Egyptian engineer, academic, former governor of the Cairo province and former minister of water and wastewater utilities, a ministerial office established in August 2012.
Education
Khalifa holds bachelor of science and m ...
, the irrigation minister, and Khaled Abdel Aal, the environment minister. Mohamed Kamel Amr, the foreign minister, resigned as well. The sports minister,
El Amry Farouk
El Amry Farouk is an Egyptian businessman and Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and ...
, resigned on 2 July 2013.
Resignation
On 3 July 2013, an Egyptian appeals court upheld a verdict dismissing Qandil of his duties and sentenced him to one year in prison for not executing a court ruling to re-nationalize the Tanta Flax and Oil Company. Subsequently, on the same day, Morsi was removed from office in a coup d'état by the military. On 8 July 2013, Prime Minister Qandil resigned over the killing of 61 protestors by the military at the
Republican Guard
A republican guard, sometimes called a national guard, is a state organization of a country (often a republic, hence the name ''Republican'') which typically serves to protect the head of state and the government, and thus is often synonymous wi ...
headquarters. He had initially decided to remain in his position as a caretaker PM until the formation of a new government. In late September 2013, the Cairo Misdemeanor Court upheld the sentence against Qandil and he was arrested on 24 December 2013. On 13 July 2014, the Court of Cassation accepted Qandil's appeal and abolished the verdict to imprison him for a year, to remove him from his job and to fine him 2,000 Egyptian pounds ($285). He was subsequently released on 15 July 2014.