Egypt court challenges Mursi

Egypt court challenges Mursi's reopening of parliament

 

Mohammed Mursi (C) has said the military must return to its normal role

Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi's order to reconvene parliament has been rejected by the highest court, which says its ruling that led to the assembly's dissolution is binding.

The speaker of the dissolved house has already responded to Mr Mursi's decree, calling on MPs to meet on Tuesday.
Army units outside parliament have left and some MPs have gone in.
The decision by Mr Mursi, whose Muslim Brotherhood has most seats, sets up a potential showdown with the military.

Analysis

Jon Leyne BBC News, Cairo

On the face of it, the court's pronouncement means that President Mursi and the Muslim Brotherhood are on course for a confrontation, both with the military and with the courts.
In practice it's not quite so simple.
All the court did last month was to rule that part of the election for parliament was unconstitutional. It didn't order the dissolution of parliament -- that was done by the military. So President Mursi is not going directly against a court order.
As for the military, they are not acting at the moment as if they are preparing for a showdown with the Brotherhood - rather the opposite.
Security outside parliament has been reduced, not increased. So it's still possible this crisis could be resolved without a major confrontation.

However the situation is unclear as Egyptians elected Mr Mursi without a constitution and without his powers being defined.

'No appeal' It was the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (Scaf) that made the decision to dissolve parliament in June, after Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court ruled that part of the election for parliament was unconstitutional.
Meeting on Monday, the court said that all its rulings and decisions were "final and not subject to appeal".
In a statement, it emphasised that the court was "not a party to any political confrontation".
The BBC's Jon Leyne in Cairo said that the court had not itself ordered the dissolution of parliament so Mr Mursi was not directly challenging a court order.
Despite the apparent tensions, the president and Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, who heads Scaf, appeared together at a military cadet graduation ceremony on Monday.
Parliament speaker Saad al-Katatni, also a member of the Brotherhood, said MPs should return for a session of parliament on Tuesday afternoon.
A Salafist MP, Nizar Ghurab, was the first to go into the building as guards outside allowed MPs to return, Mena news agency reported.
But Mr Mursi's decree was criticised by some of his political rivals.
Presidential candidate Hamdin Sabbahi was quoted as saying it was a "waste of legal authority" while another, Abdul Moneim Aboul Fotouh, was said to have denounced his move as unconstitutional.
In his presidential decree, Mr Mursi said new parliamentary elections would be held 60 days after the constitution had been agreed by referendum.