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| Africa North |
| Egypt court challenges Mursi's reopening of parliament |
| 2012-07-09 |
| So who does rule Egypy, the Mamluks or the new Pharaohs in the guise of the MB? Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi's order to reconvene parliament has been rejected by the highest court, which says its ruling that led to the assembly's dissolution is binding. The speaker of the dissolved house has already responded to Mr Mursi's decree, calling on MPs to meet on Tuesday. Army units outside parliament have left and some MPs have gone in. The decision by Mr Mursi, whose Muslim Brotherhood has most seats, sets up a potential showdown with the military. On the face of it, the court's pronouncement means that President Mursi and the Muslim Brotherhood are on course for a confrontation, both with the military and with the courts. In practice it's not quite so simple. All the court did last month was to rule that part of the election for parliament was unconstitutional. It didn't order the dissolution of parliament -- that was done by the military. So President Mursi is not going directly against a court order. As for the military, they are not acting at the moment as if they are preparing for a showdown with the Brotherhood - rather the opposite. Security outside parliament has been reduced, not increased. So it's still possible this crisis could be resolved without a major confrontation. However the situation is unclear as Egyptians elected Mr Mursi without a constitution and without his powers being defined. So his powers will be whatever he can grab. That's the explanation for all this. Thanks for asking, BBC... |
| Posted by:tipper |