Egyptian Court Upholds Dissolution Of Parliament

Egypt’s high administrative court has voted to uphold a controversial decision to dissolve the nation’s parliament — a move that the nation’s president opposes emphatically.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces ruled Egypt after the 2011 ouster of President Hosni Mubarak, reports CNN. They dissolved the country’s parliament in June after a ruling from the High Constitutional Court declared the constitutional articles that regulated parliamentary elections were invalid.

The dissolution led to a showdown with elected president Mohamed Morsi, whose former group, the Muslim Brotherhood and its Freedom and Justice Party, had won the majority of the legislative seats.

Morsi initially overrode the military and called parliament back when he took office on June 30, though he later vowed to respect the court’s ruling regarding the body’s dissolution.

While Saturday’s decision once again upholds the dissolution of parliament because the elections were unconstitutional, they set aside a ruling on a similar case involving parliament, with the intention of ruling on October 15.

Al-Arabiya News notes that Morsi’s decree upon taking office was applauded by supporters, but also set off a mass of criticism from opponents, who accused the newly elected president of overstepping his authority.

While the anticipated decision solves the conflict between Morsi and the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, the decision continues to leave Egypt without a democratically elected legislative body during a time that the country is facing a host of issues, such as major economic problems and social unrest.

Do you think that Egypt’s high court was right to uphold the decision to dissolve parliament over unconstitutional elections?