Egyptian president orders parliament to reconvene

09 July 2012

Declaration prompts stand-off between military and President

Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi has ordered the parliament to reconvene, only a month after it was dissolved by Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (Scaf).

When the parliament was dissolved, Scaf said that elections would be re-staged once a new constitution is in place. But Mursi has said that parliamentarians will return and sit until new elections are held.

The decision has set the recently elected president at odds with Scaf and the Supreme Constitutional Court, which ruled that the results of the People’s Assembly elections were illegitimate.

The Muslim Brotherhood, to which Mursi belongs, secured the most seats in both houses of parliament in the elections between November 2011 and January 2012.

It is unclear whether the military or the president’s authority will triumph. Scaf and Mursi are engaged in emergency talks on the issue.

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