The exclusion of the interior minister came as a surprise to some, but many believe it is due to the fact that political violence is on the decline. Two Coptic officials have been appointed to the political bureau and Adel Beshai, a Shura council member and American University in Cairo professor who was not previously an NDP member, was appointed to the secretariat. The appointment of the Minister of Youth Alieddin Hilal and Minister of Higher Education Hussein Kamel Bahaeddin is indicative of a move to devote greater attention to young people, who constitute almost 40 per cent of the population. The appointment of Gamal Mubarak, the president's son and spokesman for the Egyptian-American Presidents' Council, gives this assumption greater weight. Reactions from the opposition are mixed.
Many observers argue that the most important outcome of the changes is yet to be seen.
A likely effect suggested by El-Shabrawi is that the new additions will have an impact on the selection of candidates for the November elections. El-Shabrawi called for new criteria to be used in candidate selection.