by Darrin Simmons
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
CAIRO, Egypt-Crowds gathered outside Egypt’s highest court in anticipation of its ruling on the legality of parliament’s Muslim Brotherhood-led upper house, the Shura Council, and the panel that recently drafted Egypt’s constitution. Signs titled, “No to Muslim Brotherhood terrorism,” waved on as protesters awaited the decision.
On Sunday June 2nd, Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court ruled that the laws governing the election of members to the Shura Council were unlawful and against the panel that drafted the constitution. The invalidity of the upper house election laws follows a similar ruling dissolving the lower house that was issued by the Court last June.
A leading opponent of the Brotherhood led Shura Council, Mohamed ElBareadei, declared the court ruling as “an expected result of a low-level understanding and political thuggery that has toppled the concept of legitimacy and the rule of law.”
Lawyers challenged the Shura Council election laws on the grounds that there were irregularities in the mechanics of the election. These irregularities included newly enacted civil society laws that were criticized by the West and human rights groups for being a threat to democratic freedoms. Proposals for judicial reform that increased tension between judges and the Islamists who oppose them were also questioned.
Division and deadly riots in Egypt have resulted from the election of the Shura Council and its panel. Egyptians are separated between the supporters of Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsi and the opposition which includes leftists, secularists, deeply religious Muslims, and Christians. The Court’s declaration that the Shura Council is invalid fuels tensions between both sides since it will not be dissolved until a new parliament is in place.
“The Shura Council is continuing to play its complete legislative role until the institutions of the state are completed and legislative power passes to the new parliament,” stated President Morsi’s agency.
Analysts have reported that Islamists would be angered at the rejection of the Council’s legitimacy and the opposition would be displeased with the fact that it was not dissolved. Nathan Brown, an expert on Egypt and professor at George Washington University stated, “If the Shura Council still has legislative authority, then this is a moral blow but not a legal one.”
The Court’s decision comes about during a time of legal uncertainty that has occurred during a political transition in Egypt. Previously, the Court ruled unconstitutional President Morsi’s provision to declare states of emergency during violent protests in the three Suez Canal cities. Doubt was also casted over election polls called by President Morsi when last week the Court struck down parts of the revised parliamentary election law.
For more information, please see:
Aljazeera – Egypt upper house election declared illegal – 3 June 2013
Globe and Mail – Egyptian court rules upper house of parliament illegal – 2 June 2013
Guardian – Egypt court rules both Islamist-dominated Senate and constitution illegal – 2 June 2013
Reuters – Egypt parliament ruled illegal, but to stay on – 2 June 2013
