A picture of Egypt's President Mohamed Mursi is seen on a vehicle as his supporters gather at Cairo's Tahrir Square in Egypt, July 10, 2012. Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court on Tuesday suspended a presidential decree reinstating the dissolved People's Assembly (lower house of parliament). (Xinhua/Qin Haishi)
CAIRO, July 10 (Xinhua) -- Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court on Tuesday suspended a presidential decree reinstating the dissolved People's Assembly (lower house of parliament).
The court, presided by Maher El-Behary, ordered to halt President Mohamed Morsi's decree issued on Sunday for the lower house to resume work.
It also ordered to execute its former decisions to void the parliament's lower house.
Speaker of the legislative body Mohamed Saad el-Katatni chaired a 15-minute session on Tuesday morning before the suspension was announced.
Morsi, who was sworn in on June 30, on Sunday ordered the dissolved parliament to resume work and that a new parliamentary election will be held within 60 days after the country's new constitution is approved by a public referendum.
The decision immediately sparked strong opposition from liberals and judges, who deemed the presidential decree an blatant violation of the judicial authority. A number of judges filed lawsuits against the decision to the Supreme Constitutional Court and the High Administrative Court.
On Monday, the Supreme Constitutional Court said its verdict about the dissolution of parliament was final and binding to all government institutions.
The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces on Monday affirmed the importance of laws and constitution, calling all Egyptians and state institutions to respect the constitutional declarations.
The Supreme Constitutional Court ruled on June 14 that the People's Assembly was null and void as some articles of the parliament election law were unconstitutional. The then-ruling military council ordered the dissolution of the People's Assembly in line with the verdict and retook legislative powers.
However, the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists have rejected the dissolution of parliament.
CAIRO, July 9 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi's decree that ordered the dissolved parliament to resume work did not contradict or violate the earlier decision by the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC), said spokesman of the presidency Yasser Ali on Monday.
The presidential decree was issued to implement the SCC decision, Ali was quoted by official news agency MENA as saying in a statement, adding that there is no conflict between the presidency and the judiciary and the president respects the SCC decisions. Full story
CAIRO, July 9 (Xinhua) -- Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) on Monday affirmed the importance of laws and constitution, calling for all Egyptians and state institutions to respect the supplementary constitutional declaration, amid a severe debate created by President Mohamed Morsi's decree to resume the dissolved parliament.
"The SCAF's decision to dissolve the parliament was an executive decision within its powers in line with the ruling of the Supreme Constitutional Court," official news agency MENA quoted a statement issued by the SCAF as saying. Full story
|
