The Parliamentary Ethics Committee began questioning MP Ziad El-Eleimy on Saturday on accusations of insulting head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi. 

Parliament requested El-Eleimy apologise for his statements. El-Eleimy did make a statement in response, but finding it not apologetic enough, the legislative body referred him to the ethics committee to decide on a penalty. 

The MP's mid-February comments about Egypt’s ruling SCAF caused an outcry in parliament after he referenced a famous Egyptian proverb in which Tantawi was allegedly characterised as a donkey - a grave insult in Arabic culture.

El-Eleimy has staunchly defended his statements, stressing that his use of the proverb was simply meant to imply that the SCAF should be held accountable for its perceived mismanagement of Egypt's post-revolution political scene and for its failure to prevent the 1 February football violence in Port Said Stadium that left dozens dead.