CAIRO — Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court ruled on Sunday that the law by which the upper house of Parliament was elected was illegal but said the Muslim Brotherhood-controlled chamber would not be dissolved until a new Parliament was in place.
Sunday's ruling said the upper house, or Shura Council, would be dissolved once a Parliament convened. A date has yet to be set for the elections, which President Mohamed Morsi said could begin in October.
The ruling seemed likely to heighten tension between the Muslim Brotherhood and the judiciary over judicial reforms that Islamists say are necessary to remove appointees left over from the era of former President Hosni Mubarak. Judges, however, see the move as a bid to purge their ranks.
The court also ruled as illegal the body that drafted a constitution that was approved in a popular referendum in December. The implications of the ruling were not immediately clear. Some legal experts say that the constitution itself is above legal challenge because it was approved by a popular vote.
The case against the upper house of Parliament, brought by an independent member of Parliament, follows a similar challenge that led to the dissolution of the Brotherhood-led lower house last year.
It is one of the many lawsuits, filed mostly by Muslim Brotherhood opponents, that have complicated the transition from Mr. Mubarak's rule after he was swept from power by a 2011 uprising.
02 Jun, 2013
-
Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNFVskooArvOL79j9yD4-iQOhZRf4Q&url=http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/03/world/middleeast/egyptian-court-rules-against-legislative-body.html
--
Manage subscription | Powered by rssforward.com