Some cry ’coup’ as Egypt’s highest court annuls parliament, military extends power
Source: cnn.com
Egypt’s highest court declared the parliament invalid Thursday, and the country’s interim military rulers promptly declared full legislative authority, triggering a new level of chaos and confusion in the country’s leadership.
The Supreme Constitutional Court found that all articles making up the law that regulated parliamentary elections are invalid, said Showee Elsayed, a constitutional lawyer.
The ruling means that parliament must be dissolved, state TV reported.
Parliament has been in session for just over four months. It is dominated by Islamists, a group long viewed with suspicion by the military.
The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, in control of the country since Mubarak’s ouster, said that it now has full legislative power and will announce a 100-person assembly that will write the country’s new constitution by Friday.
The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s largest Islamist party, said SCAF leaders were taking matters into their own hands "against any true democracy they spoke of."
The court also ruled that former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik. the last prime minister to serve under ousted President Hosni Mubarak, may run in a presidential election runoff this weekend.
The court rejected a law barring former members of Mubarak’s regime from running in the election.
[...]
Read the full article at: cnn.com
Image: Source: A boy peers through barbed wire at Egyptian military police standing guard outside the Constitutional Court in Cairo on Thursday. CNN.com
Video from: YouTube.com
