Hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood supporters rallied outside the State Council Tuesday, ahead of an anticipated Administrative Court ruling on the dissolution of Parliament.
Strict security measures were imposed in the area while demonstrators chanted slogans backing President Mohamed Morsy and supporting the reinstatement of the People’s Assembly.
The court is expected to rule Tuesday on challenges to the formation of the Constituent Assembly, elected by Parliament in June to draft Egypt’s new constitution. The new formation could have a fate similar to the previous one, which was annulled in April due to its disproportionate representation of Islamists and the inclusion of MPs. But the possibility of its dissolution could be ruled out after Morsy approved on Sunday a law issued by Parliament setting criteria for the panel’s formation, thus requiring the case to be referred to the Supreme Constitutional Court.
The Administrative Court is also expected to rule on lawsuits demanding the dissolution of the Shura Council, in line with the dissolution of the People’s Assembly by the Supreme Constitutional Court in June. Additionally, the court is also considering numerous challenges to Morsy’s decision to reinstate the People’s Assembly, which was later overruled by the constitutional court, as well as challenges to the supplement to the Constitutional Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces in June. The supplement sharply curtailed the elected president’s powers.
Pro-SCAF MP Mostafa Bakry called the protests an “unjustified escalation,” saying that their goal was to terrorize judges.
“If the court rules that the Constituent Assembly should be annulled, the SCAF should make a new formation representing all social stripes,” Bakry said in a tweet Tuesday.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
