A crisis erupted between members of the so-called 25-30 bloc — a major leftist coalition in Egypt's parliament — and parliament Speaker Ali Abdul Aal after bloc members withdrew from discussions on the value added tax (VAT) law and held a conference to announce their opposition to the legislation.
Although Abdul Aal decided to refer the deputies in question to the Ethics Committee after their withdrawal from the session in late August, this was not the beginning of the standoff between the speaker and the bloc.