Egypt's 48 years old industrialist Ahmed Samir, who replaced Nevine Gamae as the new Minister of Trade and Industry, resigned from the House of Representatives on Sunday.
An informed source said that Samir submitted a written resignation request to the House Speaker in line with Article 164 of the constitution and articles 391 and 392 of the House's internal bylaws which state that MPs appointed as cabinet ministers should resign from parliament at once.
Samir, alongside another 12 newly-appointed cabinet ministers, was sworn in on Sunday before President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi at the new presidential palace in Egypt's northern Mediterranean coast city of Al-Alamein.
The swearing-in ceremony came after the House approved the appointment of 13 new ministers in a cabinet reshuffle in an emergency meeting called by El-Sisi.
Elected MP for the first time at the end of 2015, Samir was named head of the House's Industrial Committee in January 2016. When former MP Ali El-Moselhi was named Minister of Supply in February 2017, Samir replaced him as head of the House's Economic Committee, retaining this post until 2020.
After winning a seat in parliamentary elections at the end of 2020, Samir was re-elected in January 2021 Head of the House's Economic Committee, representing the business community district of the sixth of October city.
Samir is a member of the parliamentary majority party of Mostaqbal Watan (the Nation's Future). He was elected in 2020 on the party's list of candidates in Cairo and the South and Middle Delta districts.
An informed parliamentary source revealed Sunday that "Samir's seat in parliament will be filled in line with Article 25 of the House's law (46/2014), which states that if the parliamentary seat of a party list MP is vacated, a reserve candidate on the list shall replace him/her within sixty days."
At the House's emergency meeting on Saturday Samir thanked "the political leadership for the confidence it granted me in the form of naming me as the new minister of trade and industry."
"I also thank my colleague MPs in the current and outgoing parliaments in both of which I have served as MP for seven years," said Samir.
He added that "the fact that I was named Minister of Trade and Industry sends a message to every hardworking young man that one day he/she will be promoted to a higher position."
Born in 1974, Samir graduated from Cairo University's Faculty of Engineering in 1998. Beginning from 2000, Samir was appointed deputy manager in the Canal Plastic Pipes and Fitting Company, which was founded by his father.
A member of parliament representing the Mostaqbal Watan Party, he first served as the head of the Industrial Committee (2016-2017) and then head of the Economic Committee (2017-2022) in the House of Representatives.
The MP has also served as vice-president of the 6 October Investors Association since 2015.
