SCAF declares dissolution of parliament of over technicality

The Supreme Constitutional Court in Egypt The Supreme Constitutional Court in Egypt ruled Thursday to accept the appeal filed against the People’s Assembly, leading to the dissolution of one third of assembly seats. It also decided the unconstitutionality of the political isolation law, the fact that allows Ahmed Shafiq to continue the race of the presidential elections against the Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Morsi.
Around 200 hundred protesters gathered outside the court in Maadi, Cairo, to hear the verdicts but many more were prevented from reaching the building by road blocks and a heavy security presence.
Many protesters said they hoped for the application of the disenfranchisement law and parliament's dissolution.
“I wish we could start all over again. We didn’t make a revolution to get the Brotherhood or the old regime,” Soad Ashraf, 33, told Ahram Online.
The area around the court was cordoned off with barbed wire and a heavy security presence that outnumbered protesters.
On Wednesday, the Ministry of Justice issued a decree authorising the arrest of civilians by military intelligence and police officers. The move left many wondering how the military would use this authority and why the decision was made the day before the constitutional court's verdict.
“It was feared members of the Muslim Brotherhood might smash into the High Constitutional Court if the decision went against its interests,” Fathy Saleh, 58, told Ahram Online. Saleh was standing outside court and said he would vote for Ahmed Shafiq in the runoff.
When the court's decisions were announced, clashes erupted as protesters expressed their anger and frustration, but things quickly cooled down.
Some protesters were satisfied with the decision to dissolve parliament, whilst others were frustrated that the disenfranchisement law was ruled unconstitutional, and others were unable to make sense of what was happening.
“Does this means Mursi is still running?” asked Safwat Karim.
Frustrations, anger and ambiguity led many to march to Tahrir Square to show their objection. “We have nothing else to do but go to Tahrir Square now,” said Rashad Sabry, 35.
Shawki al-Sayed, the lawyer of the presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq said in his pleading that the political isolation law is a suspicious law and a logically unacceptable predominance of the parliament authority, saying that it is not feasible to rule out any citizen and deprive him of voting or candidacy without carrying out a prior investigation or without an issuance of a judiciary verdict against him that proves his commitment of a corruption incident. He added: “The decision of the Supreme Presidential Elections Commission (SPEC) to refer the law to the Constitutional Court is a correct decision, as it is made by a competent judicial body. The constitutional declaration described the SPEC as a judicial commission that decides on disputes made before it, and that what it has done.”
The lawyer said: “Before the issuance of the law by the People’s Assembly it swung between the law of the presidential elections and the law of corrupting the political life. When some of the MPs felt they could not implement the law of corrupting the political life on Shafiq, as this requires Shafiq to be investigated with and sentenced, the (devil) guided them to add an article in the law of practicing the political rights without investigation or existence of an incident.” He asked the court to rule the law unconstitutional.
Egypt's constitutional court also ruled against a law that would have stopped deposed president Hosni Mubarak's last prime minister Ahmed Shafiq from standing in this weekend's presidential poll runoff.
Shafiq welcomed the court rulings in a conference before his supporters: "The constitutional court has confirmed my right to participate in the election and reinforced the legitimacy of this election." Shafiq said.
Thursday's judgement comes a day after the justice ministry issued a new law allowing military police and intelligence officers to arrest civilians suspected of crimes.  Some political observers have been saying the law is reminiscent of the decades-old emergency law which expired just two weeks ago.
The controversial order was drafted earlier this month, but was not announced until Wednesday.  The decree applies to a range of offences, including those deemed "harmful to the government", destruction of property, "obstructing traffic", and "resisting orders".
It will remain in effect at least until a new constitution is drafted, according to the ministry.
The court also declared that some of the rules in a parliamentary election that ended earlier this year and which handed control to Islamists were unconstitutional, the sources said.
The ruling military decided on a complex electoral system in which voters cast ballots for party lists which made up two thirds of parliament and also for individual candidates for the remaining seats in the lower house.
The individual candidates were meant to be “independents” but members of political parties were subsequently allowed to run, giving the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party an advantage.  However that decision was challenged in court.
The ruling will cast all of parliament’s legitimacy into question. Parliament speaker Saad al-Katatni, an Islamist, had said before the ruling that the house would have to consider how to implement it.
In the absence of a constitution, suspended after last year’s ousting of president Hosni Mubarak, no authority had the right to dissolve parliament, Katatni said.
He said one possibility would be to hold by-elections for the seats ruled unconstitutional.
The presidential vote that pits Shafiq against the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsi will still go ahead on Saturday and Sunday.
A judicial body had already recommended that both laws be overturned, allowing Shafiq to continue his bid and possibly dissolving the parliament. The court was not bound to follow that advice, but it was a likely indication of the ruling.
Analysts say that the election drama only two days before the Saturday and Sunday run-off is symbolic of the slow and messy transition overseen by the council of army generals since Mubarak was ousted 16 months ago.