President Mohamed Morsy is not transferring legislative authority to the Shura Council, Presidency spokesperson Yasser Ali said Sunday.
Ali stressed that the president adheres to Egypt’s constitutions since 1923, which state that in case of the absence of the People’s Assembly, either due a parliamentary recess or its dissolution, the power to legislate is transferred to the president until the election of a new Parliament.
Ali told Al-Masry Al-Youm that lawsuits requesting the dissolution of the Shura Council, prevent transferring legislation to it in case a verdict dissolves the council, the Parliament’s upper house.
He ensured that the president clearly promised that he would only temporarily hold legislative power, and he would limit its use.
A state-run newspaper said that the president plans to transfer the power of legislation to the Shura Council, in accordance with demands by the national forces.
On the contrary, sources said that the national forces that met with Morsy last Wednesday did not call for the transfer of the legislation to the Shura Council, but some of them called to transfer it to the Constituent Assembly.
The Muslim-Brotherhood dominated-People's Assembly, which convened in early 2012, was disbanded following a ruling in July by the Supreme Constitutional Court, which deemed the elections law unconstitutional. The Shura Council, which is also dominated by the Brothers, was spared from the ruling, which responded to the case, which only concerned the People's Assembly.
The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces had appropriated legislative authority in July through an addendum to the Constitutional Declaration, under which it ruled the country in transience since the ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak. Morsy canceled the addendum earlier in August, appropriating legislative powers alongside his executive functions until a new Parliament is elected.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
