Upon the request of State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Magdi Al-Agati, Judge Ahmed Saad was selected Saturday by the State Council (administrative courts) to be the new secretary general of Egypt's House of Representatives.

The selection of Saad came after Khaled Al-Sadr, a former intelligence officer who was appointed secretary-general of parliament by former Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Ibrahim Al-Heneidy last October, resigned from office Friday.

Minister Al-Agati told reporters Saturday that he asked Al-Sadr to resign after it was discovered that he lacked any kind of legislative and constitutional experience.

"Al-Sadr is a graduate of the Faculty of Military Sciences while parliament's secretary-general must be a graduate of the Faculty of Law and should have experience practicing as a judge with the State Council (administrative courts) for at least 10 years," Al-Agati said.

Insider sources, however, indicated that Al-Agati forced Al-Sadr to resign after the latter insisted on acting alone and without prior consultation with him as minister of parliamentary affairs.

"Al-Agati accused Al-Sadr of acting independently when he allowed some high profile figures who won seats in parliament — such as the coordinator of the pro-Sisi coalition, For the Love of Egypt, Sameh Seif Al-Yazal and former Minister of Information Osama Heikal — to get parliamentary membership cards ahead of other winning candidates."

"Al-Sadr also unilaterally decided to fire a number of parliamentary employees on the grounds that they are affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood and that they are Dawaesh, or espouse the ideology of Daesh — also known as ISIS or ISIL," said sources.

Sources disclosed that the dismissed house employees sent a message to President El-Sisi complaining that they were fired not because they are affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood or that they are Dawaesh, but because they are active fighters against corruption.

"This caused embarrassment for Al-Agati, who asked Al-Sadr to resign," said sources.

Al-Agati, a former State Council judge who was appointed minister of parliamentary affairs in September, strongly denied that he forced Al-Sadr to resign.

"The reason is that some employees have filed a lawsuit against the appointment of Al-Sadr, charging that he lacks the prerequisite necessity of being a graduate of the Faculty of Law," Al-Agati told parliamentary reporters.

Al-Agati also indicated that he has a close relationship with Al-Sadr that goes back 20 years.

In his resignation letter, Al-Sadr stated that after he had completed his job during a transitional stage, he decided to resign.

On Saturday, a number of newly elected deputies, such as television anchor Tawfiq Okasha and journalist Mostafa Bakri, visited Al-Agati to urge him not to accept Al-Sadr's resignation.

"If it is true that Al-Agati forced Al-Sadr to resign, it will be a flagrant intervention by the executive authority in the internal affairs of the legislative authority," said Okasha.

Okasha also said that as the candidate who received the highest number of votes he will run for the office of speaker of Egypt's new parliament.

"If an appointed MP was elected speaker, it would be considered another intervention in the affairs of the legislative authority," argued Okasha.

Egypt's new parliament is expected to hold its opening procedural session at the end of this month, or early next year. This comes after a two-stage parliamentary ballot for the election of 568 deputies will draw to a close this week.