Leaders from the Freedom and Justice and the Nour Party said Egypt’s military leaders would not have the right to dissolve Parliament if the Supreme Constitutional Court rules that the parliamentary election law was unconstitutional.
The only person who has the power to enforce the ruling is the incoming president, they added.
MP Ali Fateh al-Bab, the head of the FJP's bloc in the Shura Council, said Parliament would not object to a possible ruling to dissolve Parliament, since it believes in the separation of powers. The ruling would have to be implemented, he said.
However, he added that it is not within the Supreme Constitutional Court's jurisdiction to dissolve Parliament. It can only state that allowing parties to compete alongside independent candidates over seats allocated to the single winner system was unconstitutional. In that case, he said, Parliament may dissolve itself or call for new elections for the independent seats.
Mokhtar al-Ashry, the head of the FJP's legal committee, said all talk about the possible dissolution of Parliament has political motives.
He added that that the Supreme Constitutional Court either will decline to examine the case, which he said is the most likely scenario, rule that the election under the single winner system was illegal, or rule to invalidate the entire election. In that case, only the incoming president will have the power to enforce the ruling.
He said that if the court rules to invalidate the election of party members to the third of seats reserved for single-member constituencies, then the number of Parliament members would drop to 398, above the quorum of 350.
Mohamed Nour, a spokesperson for the Nour Party, said his party would not allow anyone to manipulate the will of millions of Egyptians who voted in a clean election.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
