Egypt house meets despite court order
Source: Agencies |
July 11, 2012, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
EGYPT'S Islamist-dominated parliament convened yesterday in defiance of a ruling by the country's highest court and swiftly voted to seek a legal opinion on the decision that invalidated the chamber over apparent election irregularities.
The lawmakers' session was brief - it lasted five minutes - but it pushed Egypt deeper into a potential power struggle between new President Mohammed Morsi and the powerful military, which has vowed to uphold the judicial ruling that led to parliament being dissolved.
The crisis atmosphere has grown steadily since Morsi issued an order on Sunday to reconvene the 508-seat legislature. His executive order said it was revoking the military's June 15 order to disband the chamber based on the previous ruling by the Supreme Constitutional Court, which said a third of the chamber's members were elected illegally.
Parliament Speaker Saad el-Katatni told lawmakers that the legislature met to find ways to implement the court ruling rather than debate it out of respect for the principles of "the supremacy of the law and separation of authorities."
But he put forward a plan to seek what amounts to a "second opinion" from an appeals court on the ruling.
Both Morsi and el-Katatni are longtime members of the Muslim Brotherhood, the fundamentalist group that has long been at odds with successive Egyptian governments.
The lawmakers' session was brief - it lasted five minutes - but it pushed Egypt deeper into a potential power struggle between new President Mohammed Morsi and the powerful military, which has vowed to uphold the judicial ruling that led to parliament being dissolved.
The crisis atmosphere has grown steadily since Morsi issued an order on Sunday to reconvene the 508-seat legislature. His executive order said it was revoking the military's June 15 order to disband the chamber based on the previous ruling by the Supreme Constitutional Court, which said a third of the chamber's members were elected illegally.
Parliament Speaker Saad el-Katatni told lawmakers that the legislature met to find ways to implement the court ruling rather than debate it out of respect for the principles of "the supremacy of the law and separation of authorities."
But he put forward a plan to seek what amounts to a "second opinion" from an appeals court on the ruling.
Both Morsi and el-Katatni are longtime members of the Muslim Brotherhood, the fundamentalist group that has long been at odds with successive Egyptian governments.
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