It is no longer strange to read news of the resignation of one of the presidential team members assisting President Mohamed Morsi. Indeed, the confusion that is dominating Egypt's governing institution – whether at the Presidential Palace, in the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), or in the Muslim Brotherhood's Guidance Bureau – is no secret to anyone. These resignations always portend that the situation will be going from bad to worse, and that what members of the presidential team accept today they may find themselves unable to accept tomorrow, especially when they see that what they accepted or turned a blind eye to what has resulted in a crisis, or let us say crises. Yet what is most surprising is the reaction of prominent figures in power to the series of resignations from the presidential team, as it is always harsh, not to say offensive, towards all those who have left the palace. It is as if those who had resigned had been spies for the Salvation Front, for example, or for other opposition forces. The recent resignation of Counselor Mohamed Fouad Jadallah represented a strong blow to those in power, in view of the belief prevalent over the past nine months that he was the one standing behind the majority of the laws and constitutional measures enacted by Morsi. Such a belief had grown more entrenched by the fact that Jadallah would appear in the media to justify them. This was also due to the fact that he was an Islamist, even if not a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. Nonetheless, his letter of resignation contained details about the way work was being done within the institution of the Presidency. This shows that the laws, the decisions and all the behaviors that have caused the crushing political crisis the country is going through were matters the President's advisers, including Jadallah himself, had nothing to do with. In fact, some of them had warned the President against taking such steps, in particular the infamous constitutional declaration which rendered his decisions immune to appeal and prevented the judiciary from dissolving the Constitutive Assembly and the Shura Council. With the resignation of Counselor Jadallah, there remains in the presidential team only nine advisers and aides for the President, most of whom are either members of the Muslim Brotherhood or “Brotherhoodized" individuals, who are not technically affiliated to the movement, but are so in their hearts and minds, as well as in their behavior. On the other hand, the twelve members who left the palace were mostly independents. There remains of the President's aides only Doctor Essam Al-Haddad, a Muslim Brotherhood leader, as well as former Chairman of the Al-Nour Party Doctor Emad Abdel Ghaffour, and Political Science Professor Doctor Pakinam El-Sharkawy, who is close to the Brotherhood, while Coptic thinker Samir Morcos has resigned. Among his advisers, those remaining are: Omaima Kamel, Mohyee Hamed, Hussein Al-Qazzaz, Ahmed Omran and Ayman Ali, who is close to the Brotherhood, in addition to former President of the Police Academy General Emad Al-Hussein. On the other hand, the majority of independents have resigned, namely: Ayman Al-Sayyad, Amr Al-Laithi, Farouk Guida, Mohamed Esmat Seif El-Dawla, Seif Abdel Fattah, Sakina Fouad, Rafik Habib, Bassam Zarka from the Al-Nour Party, and Khaled Alameddine also from the Al-Nour Party (who was removed), in addition to Muslim Brotherhood leader Doctor Essam El-Erian, who has withdrawn for being busy with the work of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) and the Shura Council. The scene indicates that the crisis of those in power is not just with the army, the judiciary, the Interior Ministry or any of the other state institutions that are resisting “Brotherhoodization", or with the Salvation Front, revolutionary forces or those segments of Egyptian society whose members dreamt of life, liberty and social justice, and awoke to the nightmare of poverty, chaos and insecurity. Rather, the crisis is occurring within the power structure itself. Suffice it to point to the fact that, for all those who have resigned from the presidential team, Morsi has not taken the step of appointing replacements. It is as if they had held their posts as mere “decoration" to improve the President's image, without assisting him or providing him with counsel – and if they ever did, he never heeded their advice or their counsel. Thus the distance between the President and his aides and advisors has appeared to be much greater than that between him and the Muslim Brotherhood's Guidance Bureau, i.e. the FJP, or even the masses of Brotherhood members who gather to besiege courthouses or media centers every time the President is in need of popular pressure to pass a decision or a law, or to defend behavior he has engaged in! Some may think that those who have resigned have deserted a sinking ship, but the reality indicates that this matter is more one of struggle for power, or for jurisdiction, or let us say entitlements, and that the ship will continue to sail backwards for a while, during which the situation in the country will deteriorate even more. Other members of the presidential team may resign or not, as it makes no difference whether they stay or leave. And as for the reactions of individuals affiliated with those in power, which carried hints and insinuations towards Jadallah, and even outright accusations of having committed violations during his presence at the palace, they, in addition to being inappropriate, may well turn against those who made them, as they were silent about such “violations" while the man remained at the palace, and began to speak, accuse and threaten as soon as he left!! The predicament of the Presidential Palace goes beyond the relationship between the President and his aides and advisers, reflecting any crisis Egypt might be going through, even if those in power ...are unaware of it.
