Egyptian oil tycoon Akmal Qortam told the speaker on Tuesday that he was resigning his membership of parliament.
In a letter sent to speaker Ali Abdel-Aal, the head of the Conservatives Party said: "I have told you before that I intended to resign and I have sent you a message about this on your phone, allowing you to choose the most appropriate political date to make my resignation public."
Qortam added: "Today I have decided to submit my resignation in print, out of increasing conviction that I have no longer become able to use my parliamentary membership to do anything good for my nation and constituents."
"I have other reasons for my resignation but it is unwise to speak in detail about them right now," he wrote, adding that "from the bottom of my heart I hope that you do your job in the best way and as stated by the constitution."
Qortam had announced last month that he would resign from parliament. He voiced criticism of the pro-government parliamentary bloc Support Egypt, accusing it of turning parliament into a rubber stamp.
He also accused the Free Egyptians Party of using its large number of MPs to elect a former police officer – Alaa Abed – as the new head of parliament's human rights committee. Qortam had expressed his hopes that he would be elected head of the committee during parliament's second legislative season.
He also showed solidarity with the committee's former head, outspoken MP Mohamed Anwar El-Sadat, who has faced accusations that he was using his position to impose the agendas of Western human rights organisations – such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch – on Egypt's parliament.
