Egypt’s High Court Overrules President’s Decree

Egypt’s High Court Overrules President’s Decree:

Egyptian military police stand guard outside the Supreme Constitutional Court in Cairo on June 14, as the court examines a controversial law. (Khaled Desouki/AFP/GettyImages)

The high court of Egypt on Monday said that President Mohamed Mursi does not have the right to reinstate the lower house of Parliament after the body was dissolved last month.
“The scope of its sacred mission remains to protect the provisions of the constitution and to prevent any aggression against or violation of them,” reads a statement from the court in explaining its decision not to go along with Mursi’s decree, reported state-run the Al-Ahram publication.

The high court asserted that its decisions “are final and not subject to appeal, and that its provisions in cases of constitutional interpretation and decisions are binding on all state authorities,” the newspaper reported. It added that it is not part of any political struggle in the country.
The interim government of the Supreme Council of Armed Forces last month dissolved Parliament and said it would assume legislative authority before fresh elections after the court handed down its decision.
Following the court’s statement, Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood called for a “million-man march” to support the president’s decisions, according to a Twitter statement posted by the Brotherhood’s Ikhwanweb website.
The Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party won close to half the seats in the lower house of Parliament.