Parliament member and journalist Mostafa Bakry has announced he is quitting Support Egypt, a pro-state parliamentary bloc of partisans and independents.
The resignation of Bakry, a vocal supporter of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, comes after internal divisions within the 400-member alliance over nominations for the chairmanship of parliament committees.
Bakry had voiced discontent after he failed to win the bloc’s consensus over his nomination for the post of deputy parliament speaker. The bloc’s leadership had voiced the idea of giving him a seat within its politburo so as to avoid further breakoffs by bloc members who had supported his deputy speaker bid.
Observers had sensed rifts within the bloc presumed to back government legislation after the chamber voted against the Civil Service Law, the law regulating government employee pay, promotions and evaluations which had sparked several protests by government employees last year.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
