Uncertainty in Egypt following Court ruling on Parliament election
By NVONews.com Middle East correspondent,
Cairo: There is growing uncertainty in Egypt following the Thursday’s ruling of the Supreme Constitutional Court declaring election for one-third seats of Parliament as unconstitutional and illegitimate. In another judgement the Supreme Court also allowed the former Prime Minister Ahmad Shafiq to contest the Presidential election.
It is unclear whether those seats now need to be contested in a new election.
Some media in the region, especially in Israel, even went on to say on Friday that Egypt is in the grip of a coup following the ruling.
The verdict to dissolve parliament and declare the election unconstitutional opens the door for a new phase.
However, there are many media pundits, especially in Egypt, who hailed the rulings as historic.
The Court also ruled that former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq can continue to run for president in elections this weekend. The Court had been considering a law that would have barred him from standing for office on the grounds that he was a member of the former regime.
Shafiq is standing against the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohammed Mursi, who has a definite edge over the former.
The Court had been asked to rule on a law passed by parliament banning senior officials from former President Hosni Mubarak’s regime from standing for office. It has decided that his candidacy is still valid.
The Court ruling on the last year’s parliamentary election was significant because some of the seats were contested on a proportional list system, while others on a “first-past-the-post” system.
It has found that those elected on the “first-past-the-post” system were unconstitutional.
Many of those seats were won by the Muslim Brotherhood.
There was a large security operation outside the Court as demonstrators gathered for the judgement on Ahmed Shafiq. A barbed-wire fence was constructed around the court grounds to keep protesters out. Rows of police in riot gear stood guard.
Many demonstrators shouted slogans and held posters demanding that Shafiq be disqualified.
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