Egypt court to rule next month on challenge to upper house

23 hrs ago
Reuters
Source: Yahoo News

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's highest court will rule next month on the legality of the upper house of parliament, judicial sources said on Sunday, in a case that throws more legal doubt over a political transition repeatedly disrupted by lawsuits.

A ruling against the Muslim Brotherhood-led upper house by the Supreme Constitutional Court on June 2 could lead to the dissolution of the chamber and result in legislative power being transferred to President Mohamed Mursi.

The case, brought by an independent parliamentary candidate, stems from a similar challenge to the lower house last year. That lawsuit resulted in the dissolution of the Islamist-led lower house after the court ruled that flaws in the election law, related to the number of seats reserved for independent candidates, rendered it unconstitutional.

Both are examples of the many lawsuits, filed mostly by Muslim Brotherhood opponents, that have complicated the transition from Hosni Mubarak's rule after he was swept from power by Egypt's 2011 uprising.

Elections for a new lower house of parliament were due to begin last month but were derailed by a court ruling annulling a Mursi decree setting the election dates.

The Islamists believe the judiciary to be stacked with Mubarak-era appointees who are working against them. However, the make-up of the Supreme Constitutional Court has changed since last year's ruling on the dissolution of the lower house.

The court is also due to rule on June 2 on the validity of a separate Islamist-dominated assembly that drafted a new constitution fast-tracked into law by Mursi in December.

Many Egyptians viewed the assembly as illegitimate because it did not fully represent the country's diversity. Most of the non-Islamist members, including liberals and representatives of the Coptic Church, withdrew, saying that Islamists were imposing their views.

The constitution was approved in a popular referendum, which some critics say offers it protection from legal challenge.

(Reporting by Maggie Fick; Editing by Tom Perry and David Goodman)

Egypt election to begin April 28: adviser

47 minutes ago
By Marwa Awad and Yasmine Saleh | Reuters

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi will call a parliamentary election starting April 28, a presidential legal adviser told Reuters on Thursday, saying the vote would be held in four stages.

Mursi and his Muslim Brotherhood backers hope the election will mark an end to a turbulent political transition punctuated by spasms of violence that have thwarted his efforts to revive an economy in deep crisis.

But the vote will take place in a country more divided than ever between Islamist parties that have come out on top in all the elections held since Hosni Mubarak was ousted in 2011 and a more secular-minded opposition that has struggled to organize.

Earlier in the day the Shura Council, the upper house of parliament, adopted an electoral law as amended by the Constitutional Court, clearing the way for Mursi to set a date for the lower house election.

"Parliamentary elections for 2013 will begin on April 28, over four stages," Mohamed Gadallah, a legal adviser to Mursi, told Reuters. A presidential source had earlier told Reuters Mursi would call the election starting in April.

The vote would be held in phases in different regions because of a shortage of poll supervisors. The last lower house election, which was won by Islamists, lasted from late November 2011 until January the following year.

Mursi had been expected to ratify the electoral law by February 25. The lower house was dissolved last year after the court ruled the original law used to elect it was unfair.

The new chamber is likely to have to decide on tough economic measures that the International Monetary Fund is demanding in return for a $4.8 billion loan which Egypt needs to tackle an economic crisis.

On Monday the Constitutional Court demanded changes to five articles of the revised electoral law. The Shura Council accepted this ruling and adopted the legislation without a vote on Thursday.

"The decision of the Constitutional Court is binding and we have no right to vote on it. It must be carried out," said Ahmed Fahmy, the Council's speaker.

The new law bars members of parliament from changing their political affiliation once elected. Under ousted president Hosni Mubarak, independents were often cajoled into joining the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), which monopolized parliament and political life before the 2011 revolution.

The law also stipulates that one third of the lower house should be designated for independents and bans former members of the now defunct NDP from participating in politics for at least 10 years.

(Editing by David Stamp, Tom Perry and Michael Roddy)

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood calls anti-military protest over bid to curb president's powers

3 hrs ago
By The Associated Press | Associated Press
Source:Yahoo News

CAIRO - The campaign of an Islamist who claimed victory in Egypt's presidential runoff says the Muslim Brotherhood and other political groups plan a mass demonstration later Tuesday to protest a military declaration seeking to curtail the powers of the next president.

Campaign spokesmen for Mohammed Morsi say the protest is planned at Cairo's Tahrir Square, birthplace of the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak's regime 16 months ago. The protest is also to denounce a court ruling that dissolved parliament, where the Brotherhood dominated with just under half the seats.

One of the main liberal youth groups behind the uprising, April 6, said it was taking part in the protest.

Two leading Egypt MPs stopped from entering the People Assembly

Monday 18 Jun 2012
Source:Ahram Online

Head of the legislative committee of the People's Assembly Mahmoud El-Khodairy and deputy head of the committee Mohamed El-Omda were prevented by security from entering the committee's office on Monday morning.

On Friday, the ruling military council ordered for the People's Assembly (the lower house of parliament) to be dissolved in line with a Thursday High Constitutional Court verdict declaring Egypt's Parliamentary Law - which regulated last year's polls - to be unconstitutional.

Both parliamentarians were on their way to look into the court verdict when they were prevented from entering.

On Sunday, majority leader of the People’s Assembly Hussein Ibrahim of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice party, stressed that “The People’s Assembly has not been dissolved, and the calling for our Tuesday meeting is still on.”

Egypt army to outline president's role, retain powers

3 hrs ago
By Marwa Awad | Reuters
Source: Yahoo News

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's ruling generals will make a declaration on Monday that will give the newly elected president the power to appoint a cabinet, but legislative powers will for now go back to the army after parliament was dissolved, official sources said on Sunday.

To Islamists and revolutionaries, the declaration - which will come hours after polls closed in a presidential race - will raise questions over whether the military has met a pledge to hand power to civilians by July 1. Many will see it as a bid to consolidate power in the hands of the army council, which took control after mass protests toppled Hosni Mubarak last year.

Elections to a new parliament would not now take place until a new constitution was drafted and approved by referendum, the sources said, adding that a constitution could be drawn up by a body appointed by the generals, rather than the old parliament.

The state-run news agency confirmed the constitutional declaration would be issued on Monday but did not give details.

Until now, the president's powers have not been clearly defined and the Supreme Constitutional Court's decision on Thursday to dissolve the Islamist-led parliament elected this year added further uncertainty to Egypt's troubled transition.

"In the absence of parliament, legislative powers move back to the military council, which has been in charge of the country and will hand over presidential powers to the president soon," a military source told Reuters.

"The head of state will have the power to appoint a prime minister and cabinet ministers," the source said, adding the president would also have powers to appoint other posts, such as a number of unelected members, around 10, to parliament.

The military council met a civilian body which advises the generals, along with other experts, on Sunday to discuss the declaration, a lawyer who attended the meeting said.

"The presidential powers which the military council held until now will now shift to the new president," he said.

BROTHERHOOD OBJECTS

The Muslim Brotherhood, which dominated parliament, called the decision to dissolve the chamber a "coup" and said it showed the army was seeking to concentrate powers in its hands.

The speaker of the dissolved parliament, the Brotherhood's Saad al-Katatni, also said the generals had no right to issue a constitutional declaration.

Katatni "stressed that the decision to dissolve parliament and the procedures following such decision is not based on any articles in the existing constitutional decree" after he met the generals on Sunday, his office said in a statement.

A day before it was dissolved last week, parliament had for a second time approved the formation of a special assembly to draft a new constitution. But like a first attempt to appoint members to such a body, it ran into opposition from liberals. Some have threatened to challenge the assembly again in court.

The new declaration on Monday will give the military council the right to form a new constitutional assembly if the latest one set up by parliament is dissolved by a court, as the first one was, the legal expert and army source said.

The declaration will also give the army "full control over military internal affairs including appointments and dismissals of military personnel and the defence budget". Critics had said the budget for the armed forces should be transparent and overseen by parliament.

In a show of defiance, Katatni said that the existing constitutional assembly will convene on Monday to begin drafting a constitution. The members would meet in the upper house of parliament, which has not been dissolved.

Under the new declaration, the constitutional assembly, whether the one approved by parliament or one formed by the military council, would have three months to draft a constitution after which a referendum would be held on it.

Elections for a new parliament would then take place within a month. The legal expert said this could be in October or November.

We will succeed': Brotherhood reacts to verdict dissolving Egypt Parliament

Thursday 14 Jun 2012
Source: Ahram Online

Leading Muslim Brotherhood figure Mahmoud Ezzat said Thursday that he believed the Egyptian people would vote for the Islamist group in both the upcoming presidential runoffs and new parliamentary elections, in a statement to Al-Ahram Arabic language news website.

His comments follow the verdict of the High Constitutional Court (HCC), which saw Egypt's Parliament dissolved, as the elections of one third of the parliamentary seats reserved for individual candidates, were deemed unconstitutional.

The Political Disenfranchisement Law was also rejected by the courts, giving former regime figure Ahmed Shafiq the green light to face the Brotherhood's candidate Mohamed Mursi in the 16 - 17 June presidential runoffs.

“We are waiting to read the rationale of verdicts issued by the HCC so the Muslim brotherhood can comment officially,” Ezzat added. The Brotherhood member also speculated about the timing of the ruling, as the constitutional court had previously taken years to reach its final verdict, citing the three-year decision to declare the 1987 parliamentary elections unconstitutional and to dissolve the parliament.

Parliament 'will hold its activities as planned' as verdict implementation within SCAF's powers

Thursday 14 Jun 2012
Source:Ahram Online

The Head of the Egypt's Constitutional Court Farouk Sultan said that Thursday's court rulings have been issued in the state's Official Journal and are thus enforceable.

However, Sultan said that the Constitutional court does not have the authority to implement its verdicts, in case parliament does not suspend its activities in response, and that implementation is within the powers of the executive authorities, which are currently at the command of SCAF.

Egypt's High Constitutional Court on Thursday ruled that the Political Disenfranchisement Law, which had been referred to it by the Presidential Elections Commission, was unconstitutional. In the same session, the court found the election of one third of parliamentary seats, reserved for individual candidates, unconstitutional.

On the other hand, Deputy Speaker of Parliament and Salafist Al-Nour party figure Ashraf Thabet said that parliament will hold its Tuesday plenary as normal, denying that parliament will hold an emergency session upon the ruling.

He further said that parliament will be discussing its legal options following the ruling since it only concerns one third of its members.

As though unfazed by the ruling, the parliamentary secretariat distributed the periodical agenda of the parliamentary committees’ activities, which start on 18 June.