Egyptian President Reinstates Lower Parliament

Newly elected Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi ordered Sunday that the country’s lower parliament be reinstated, weeks after it was dissolved by the ruling military council.

The move appears to be an attempt to further lessen the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces’ (SCAF) grip on power.

After throwing out the People’s Assembly last month the military council issued a constitutional addendum that gave it full legislative authority until a new parliament is elected. Morsi’s reinstatement of the parliament appears to be an attempt to invalidate that addendum to force the SCAF to step aside.

The People’s Assembly was elected earlier this year and Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood party won more than half of the seats in the assembly.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces dissolved the body after the country’s high court ruled it’s seat distribution (representation) to be unconstitutional. The move proved to be unpopular, with mass demonstrations calling for the SCAF to step aside.

Morsi’s move appears to reverse SCAF’s implementation of the high court’s decision, rather than contradicting the high court’s ruling, Al Jazeera reported.

Morsi has called for new parliamentary elections within 60 days after the new constitution is drafted, which may be a nod to the court’s ruling that the previous elections were not fully constitutional.

A source close to the SCAF told Al-Ahram that the military council is holding an emergency meeting to discuss the new development, while Al Jazeera reported that the high court will meet on Monday to review Morsi’s decree.

Muslim Brotherhood members questioned said they were not consulted on the decree. It is still unclear if Morsi held talks with members of the SCAF before making the announcement, reports Al Jazeera.

Assembly speaker Saad El-Katatni said the assembly will reconvene and resume its responsibilities within hours, reported the state-run Al-Ahram daily newspaper.

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