Defying court, Morsi orders Egyptian parliament returned
Move by new president could backfire, with critics charging he has no respect for judiciary
Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi has ordered the country’s parliament returned, defying court orders that dissolved the body last month.
“President Morsi has issued a presidential decree annulling the decision taken on June 15, 2012 to dissolve the people’s assembly, and invites the chamber to convene again and to exercise its prerogatives,” the official Egyptian news agency MENA said, according to the AFP.
Morsi’s move appeared to be in defiance of the military’s “constitutional declaration” announced on June 16 that gave it legislative powers and stripped Morsi of much of his presidential authority.
The Islamist-dominated parliament was broken up by a court ruling after judges decided that too many at-large votes had illegally gone to candidates belonging the Muslim Brotherhood.
The move was seen as a blow for the Brotherhood, with some calling it a “coup” by the then-ruling military council.
Morsi was elected to Egypt’s presidency in mid-June on a Muslim Brotherhood ticket, ending decades of autocratic rule in Egypt.
A conservative Islamist, Morsi’s move may have been inspired in large part by a desire to assert his authority in the face of the military, which has been the country’s de facto ruler since army officers seized power in a 1952 coup that toppled the monarchy. But Morsi’s defiance of a ruling by the country’s highest court could backfire, leading to charges that he has no respect for the judiciary.
The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, the formal name of the body that groups the country’s top generals, has yet to comment on Morsi’s decree.
The Times of Israel Community.