Prime Minister Hesham Qandil resigned from his post, in a letter addressed to former president Mohamed Morsi made public on Monday. Dated 3 July, the resignation read: "after this clear military coup and in these conditions…. I find it hard for any government to work." In a statement by Qandil released on Monday he said: "I had prepared this resignation to hand in to his Excellency, President of Egypt, Mohamed Morsi on Wednesday 3 July…" Qandil said that he had planned to submit his letter after Defence Minister Abdul Fatah Al-Sisi announced the roadmap, which stated that early presidential elections would be held, the constitution would be temporarily suspended and head of the Supreme Constitutional Court, Adly Mansour, would serve as interim president. Qandil stated that he tried to manage affairs as head of the caretaker government after Al-Sisi's announcement "for the sake of the country." "But that has become practically impossible and with the blood that has flowed, I have decided to go through with my resignation which I had prepared earlier but not handed in," he said on Monday. The resignation comes a few hours after deadly clashes between pro-Morsi protesters and the army outside the Republican Guards headquarters. More than 50 died and hundreds were injured. Qandil, 52, was appointed prime minister by Morsi in July 2012. Before that, he served as Irrigation and Water Resources Minister in the Kamal Ganzouri Cabinet. Negotiations have been on-going for several days to name the next prime minister and no official announcement has been made.
