Egypt: President Mursi reverses Parliament

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Egypt: President Mursi reverses Parliament

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Egypt's President Mursi has ordered parliament to reconvene, a month after it was dissolved.

09 July,2012 07:06 pm

In what could plunge Egypt into another political tussle, President Mohamed Mursi on Monday ordered the dissolved Parliament to reconvene.“President Mohamed Mursi ordered the reconvening of sessions of the elected parliament,” the statement read by Morsis close aide Yasser Ali said.The Supreme Constitutional Court had ordered the lower house of parliament to be dissolved on June 14 after finding that one-third of the Muslim Brotherhood-dominated house were party members who had run for seats reserved for independent candidates.Implementing the judiciary’s order, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces issued a constitutional declaration on June 16, dissolving the Islamists-dominated Parliament and stripping Mursi of much of his presidential powers. Thus, the SCAF armed itself with the legislative powers in the absence of parliament. The generals also gained control over the process of drafting a new constitution.But Mursi’s decree annuls the previous order of judiciary that disbanded the Parliament, thus wresting all the powers back from the Generals.Mursi’s decree, his first strong act as a President, also calls for elections to be held within 60 days of a new constitution being drafted and approved by the nation in a public referendum.Though, the charter is not expected to be drafted before the end of the year.Mursi’s decree is sure to sharpen the fissures between the military council and the newly elected leadership, as it has directly challenged the Generals who had handed over the power to him on June 30 after 16 months of power following the ouster of Hosni Mubarak.After Mursi’s surprise challenge, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, head of the SCAF, called an emergency meeting to review and discuss the repercussions of the Presidential decree.Mursi’s decision, which is being dubbed as his most assertive action so far, has given a head-on challenge to military’s ambitions of clinging on to power.The Muslim Brotherhoods Freedom and Justice Party dominated the recently elected parliament of Egypt, holding along with its allies 235 of the 498 seats. The Salafist Al Nour party and its allies have 123 seats, while the socialist bloc New Wafd had 38 seats.