Former PM and Presidential Candidate Ahmed Shafiq (Photo:Reuters)
The Egyptian Patriotic Movement has rejected the resignation of its leader Ahmed Shafiq, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported.
The movement’s supreme council said it would form a committee to travel to Abu Dhabi, where the Mubarak-era prime minister has lived for “security reasons” since he lost the presidency to Mohamed Morsi in 2012, to convince him to remain with the party.
The council said in a statement that they see Shafiq as a "principle," not a person, and that he is a true symbol of the party and will remain its head “forever.”
Shafiq founded the Egyptian Patriotic Movement in December 2012.
"I had to resign due to difficult circumstances I faced while doing my job," he said on Twitter late Saturday.
His resignation came days after news spread that a TV interview with him last week was not aired due to alleged "political pressure," according to media reports.
A clip of the interview was released in which he harshly criticises the current Egyptian regime.
In March of last year, a leaked recording circulated in which Shafiq criticised the army for backing Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi for the presidency. He later backtracked and said the statements were taken out of context.
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