Prior to the Army’s statement removing former President Mohamed Morsi and suspending the constitution, the country witness a wave of resignations in support of the mass protests around Egypt. The long awaited June 30 protests, led by Tamarod, the successful campaign to withdraw confidence from the president, shocked the world with massive protests, larger than those recorded in January 2011.
Following Morsi’s speech on June 26, several members of the Shura Council announced their resignation stating that the president did not offer a proper road map to resolve the ongoing political crisis.
Saturday June 29
Ten Shura Council MPs from the civil front tendered their resignation. Resigned lawmaker from "Egypt Party" Nabil Azmi said that the Interior Ministry and the Presidency should take the responsibility for protecting Egyptians. [Ahram Online]
Monday July 1
The morning following Sunday’s protests, eight liberal members of the Shura Council submitted their resignations. The MPs that resigned were Magdy al-Maasarawy, Gamil Halim, Sameh Fawzy, Nadia Henry, Kamal Soliman, Suzy Adel, Nabil Azmy, Haile Selassie Mikhael and Farid al-Bayyad.
Magdy al-Maasarawy in the text of his resignation was quoted, "respond to the demands of the great people of Egypt and the legitimate claim to a decent life, and to achieve the great demands of the revolution on January 25." [Ahram Online, Watan (Arabic), Ahram (Arabic), AMAY (Arabic)]
That same day, four members of Cabinet resigned in protest of how the presidency was handling the political crisis, most of them voicing their support for the June 30 protests. The Ministers include Hatem Bagato (Minister of State for Legal and Parliamentary Affairs), Atef Helmy (Minister of Communications), Khaled Fahmy (Minister of Environment), Hesham Zazou (Tourism Ministry). [Ahram Online, Egypt Independent, Aswat Masriya]
As protests continued, Sami Anan (Military Adviser to President Mohamed Morsi) announced his resignation declaring his support of the protests as well as for early elections. Anan, a leading member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, was forcibly resigned together with Field Marshall Hussein Tantawi by Morsi in August, 2012. [Egypt Independent]
It is reported that three governors also resigned including Tarek Khedr (Damietta), Hassan Rifai (Ismailiya), Yehia Mokhaymer (Sohag).
Tuesday July 2
Resignations continued on Tuesday when Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr, submitted his resignation. Kamel Amr first served as foreign minister in July of 2011 for a few months under Essam Sharaf’s government and went on to serve as a foreign minister two more times, one in Kamal Ganzouri’s government and most recently in Hesham Qandil’s cabinet.
Egypt’s cabinet spokesman, Alaa al-Hadidi, submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Hisham Qandil late on Monday followed by two presidential spokesman resignations from Omar Amer and Ihab Fahmy. [Egypt Independent, Aswat Masriya]
In the afternoon of Tuesday, Sports Minister El-Amry Farouk, became the sixth cabinet member to resign. Farouk was appointed as sports minister last summer but since his appointment, although he has been involved in several disputes with the chairmen of Ahly and Zamalek as well as the fans over crowd bans and new laws that were governing the board of directors’ elections. [Ahram Online]
Wednesday July 3
Four more resignations from the Shura Council were announced today: Ehab al-Kharat, Mona Makram Ebeid, Hamada Ghalab, and Sayed Abdel Rady.
Shorouk reported that three representatives from Al-Azhar resigned from the Shura council: Dr. Abdel Dayem Naseer (Al-Azhar Sheikh and Adviser for Education), Dr. Mohamed Mehna (Al-Azhar Sheikh and Adviser), and Abdel Hady Al Qasby.
Reports also emerged that the governor of Giza Aly Abdel Rahman resigned.
According to Shorouk, prior to Morsi’s removal, thirty members of the Shura council resigned in addition to four governors and six ministers.
Photo: Reuters
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