Egypt’s new PM calls for protests to end

AP, Cairo :
Egypt’s new prime minister on Sunday urged a halt to protests and strikes to give the nation a breather to rebuild after more than three years of deadly turmoil, a call made by his predecessors to no avail.
Ibrahim Mehlib made his appeal in an address televised live on his first full day on the job after he and members of his Cabinet were sworn in on the previous day by Interim President Adly Mansour.
Mehlib was named prime minister last week following the surprise resignation of his predecessor, Hazem el-Beblawi, after seven tumultuous months in office. Egypt experienced bloodshed and mass detentions as authorities staged a massive crackdown on supporters of ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi and, in recent weeks, an increasing number of strikes.
“Stop all kinds of sit-ins, protests and strikes. Let us start building the nation,” Mehlib said.
“No voice must be louder than the voice of construction and development,” said Mehlib. “Your demands will be taken very seriously, but I also know how much you love your country and your desire to build and elevate it,” he said.
The turmoil sweeping Egypt since the 2011 ouster of Hosni Mubarak has devastated the economy, particularly the vital tourism sector.
Egypt’s system gives most powers to the president, but the prime minister handles day-to-day economic affairs. Mehlib’s appeal echoed others made by his post-2011 predecessors that failed to check the seemingly endless wave of protests and strikes since. One prime minister, Kamal el-Ganzouri, famously broke down in tears as he discussed Egypt’s economic plight.