Essam El Erian Resigns From Morsi’s Presidential Advisory Board

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood member Essam El Erian resigned from his presidential advisory post on Sunday, saying he cannot hold a legislative and an executive job at the same time.

President Mohamed Morsi’s office accepted El Erian’s resignation, as the latter is currently heading the Freedom and Justice Party’s parliamentary bloc in the Shura council, the country’s upper house of parliament.

This position, El Erian said, “would constitute a conflict of interest, according to the new Constitution,” reported Egypt Independent.

In addition to being President Morsi’s advisor, El Erian is also the vice president of the Freedom and Justice Party, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, which has backed Morsi during the country’s first democratic presidential elections in 2012.

The Brotherhood’s leader became a center of controversy last week when he said during an interview with the local Dream TV network on Thursday: “It is better for Jews to live in a country like Egypt rather than in a country contaminated by occupation.”

He added that Jews should return to Egypt to “make way for the Palestinian people” and said, “Every Egyptian has the right to come back to Egypt, no matter what his religion.

“Egyptian Jews should refuse to live under a brutal, bloody and racist occupation stained with war crimes against humanity,” Erian said.

El Erian’s remarks prompted a fierce response from the many opponents and allies of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Morsi’s office later had disassociated the president from El Erian’s comments, saying they reflect the latter’s personal stance.

Al Arabiya