21 Facts About Essam Sharaf

Essam Sharaf served as minister of transportation from 2004 to 2005.

Essam Sharaf returned to Cairo University in 1991, becoming a professor of highway engineering in 1996 while working as senior advisor for the transportation and aviation department in Zuhair Fayez Partnership in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Essam Sharaf was the senior advisor to the Egyptian minister of transport in 1999 and the senior technical advisor to the municipality of Al Ain in the UAE in 2003.

Essam Sharaf joined the National Democratic Party and became a member of its policy secretariat.

Essam Sharaf served as Egyptian minister of transportation from 13 July 2004 to 31 December 2005.

Essam Sharaf resigned due to differences that cropped up between him and Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif.

Essam Sharaf later claimed that these events led to the Qalyoub rail accident in 2006.

Essam Sharaf was present and active at the Tahrir square protests during the 2011 Revolution, which endeared him to the leaders of the democracy movement and led them to suggest his name to the Military Council as a possible replacement for Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik.

Essam Sharaf was asked by Egypt's governing military council to form a government on 3 March 2011, following Shafik's resignation.

Essam Sharaf appeared on stage with Mohamed Beltagy, a Muslim Brotherhood leader.

Essam Sharaf was appointed prime minister on 3 March 2011, being the first post-revolution premier of Egypt and replaced Ahmad Shafiq in the post.

Essam Sharaf was even pictured with Egyptians eating the cheap Egyptian national dish "Fuul" in a simple restaurant with his family, his son paid a traffic ticket rather than evading it as he could have, and other similar stories of a simple and humble demeanor flooded the social networks and street talk.

Essam Sharaf was later blamed for failure to properly address a number of incidents that are crucial to national security such as the worsening security issues, reforming the security apparatus, sectarian violence, solving workers' pay grievances or reforming corrupt national media.

Essam Sharaf's government had mandated a number of laws that were controversial, such as Anti-assembly and Anti-strike laws.

Essam Sharaf appointed veteran economist Hazem Beblawi and Ali El Selmy, a leader of the liberal Wafd party, as deputy prime ministers on 17 July 2011.

Essam Sharaf's cabinet was laden with remnants of the Mubarak era, ministers he was still incapable of removing without SCAF support.

Essam Sharaf's leadership was largely viewed as that of a figurehead acting on the SCAF's orders rather than having any true political power.

Essam Sharaf issued a decree establishing a fund to finance factories suspended from work in order to prevent leakage of employment.

Essam Sharaf visited Ethiopia which resulted in Ethiopia announcing "new page" with Egypt on the Nile to ask a different kind of dialogue and cooperation, away from the previous round, which saw a tension between the two countries on the rights and uses in the waters of the Nile.

Essam Sharaf visited Sudan and agreed during this visit that Sudan was to plant 100 thousand acres in the Sudan as a first stage up to one million acres, to achieve food security for both Egypt and Sudan.

Essam Sharaf is noted for strongly opposing normalization of ties with Israel.