Who is Ibrahim Mahlab?

News is spreading very quickly that Ibrahim Mahlab is set to become Egypt's new Prime Minister, and will be asked to form a new government. Before we get into the details of the breaking news, we figured it would be best to ask: who is Ibrahim Mahlab? 

Born in 1949, Mahlab got his education in civil engineering, graduating from the University of Cairo in 1972. Shortly thereafter he went to work for the massive construction company The Arab Contractors (Osman Ahmed Osman & Co.). His career started by overseeing the construction of bridges, tunnels, and power plants, among other things. Between 1985-87, he served as the technical manager of Arab Contractors in Saudi Arabia. Eventually Mahlab would work his way to the top, becoming CEO and chairman of the Arab Contractors board in 2001.

In June 2010, Mahlab was handpicked by Mubarak to be one of the 44 Shura Council members. At the time the constitution stipulated that two-thirds of the council be elected, while one-third be appointed by presidential decree. As a member of the NDP, Mahlab witnessed the sweeping majority that the NDP won in the highly controversial 2010 parliamentary elections, which would in turn act as one of the factors that lead to the 2011 revolution.

In the aftermath of the January 25^th revolution, the NDP was disbanded and it wouldn't be until the ousting of Morsi that Mahlab would find himself in a governmental position. Currently, Mahlab is a very busy man as he is the Housing Minister and sits on multiple boards including Cairo University's Civil Engineering Research and Studies Center, the Housing and Building Research Center, Suez Canal Bank, as well as being deputy board director of the Association of Enterprises for Environmental Conservation. Many reports have surfaced today suggesting that he will become the new Prime Minister, tasked with forming a government, but with everything he is already involved with, one must wonder where he will find the time to properly hold the position.

If this is the case, then one can assume that Mahlab will be tapping Mubarak's former cronies to fill up his cabinet. The announcement of Beblawi and the Cabinet's resignation caught many off guard and speculation began that the reason it happened was to further pave a path for Sisi's presidential bid. This could still be true, but the only thing we can say with any confidence is that there are no more ifs, ands, or buts - the revolution to rid Egypt of Mubarak and his cronies has failed, and oddly enough, instead of being upset about the revolution's epic failure, a portion of Egyptians are rejoicing.