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To convene or not to convene?

July 9, 2012

The parliamentary speaker in Cairo told politicians to come back to work on Tuesday, a day after President Mohamed Morsi said they should reconvene. The constitutional court, however, swiftly overturned the decree.

https://p.dw.com/p/15U7m
the first Egyptian parliament session after the revolution that ousted former President Hosni Mubarak, in Cairo, Egypt.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa

Egypt's official MENA news agency reported that parliamentary speaker Saad al-Katatni had called on parliamentarians to return to the office Tuesday after almost a month's absence. The speaker of the house "has called on parliament to convene at 2 p.m. (1200GMT) on Tuesday," the report said.

New President Mohamed Morsi on Sunday ordered politicians back to work after the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) and constitutional court had disbanded parliament on June 15.

Within hours of this decision, however, the Supreme Constitutional Court met and said that last month's ruling was "final and not subject to appeal...and binding for all state institutions."

People ride scooters past the Supreme Constitutional Court in Cairo June 12, 2012.
The Supreme Constitutional Court swiftly quashed Morsi's decreeImage: Reuters

The court also said the ruling was "not a part of any political conflict," and yet the issue looks set to become the first chapter of a power struggle between the Islamist Morsi and the powerful, more secular Egyptian military and judiciary.

Morsi is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood party, the most powerful group in parliament. Parliament had been disbanded one day before the second round runoff presidential vote that Morsi ultimately won; the Muslim Brotherhood described the move as a "soft coup."

Egypt has been trying to establish more democratic governance in the 17 months since President Hosni Mubarak was ousted in a popular uprising, but the process has been slow and stuttering. The military and judiciary led the country's interim administration but at least symbolically handed power over to Morsi when he was named victor against Ahmed Shafiq, Mubarak's last prime minister.

But shortly before handing Morsi power, the military issued new decrees stipulating that generals would control the formation of a constitution - an outstanding step in the democratization process - and drafting a national budget.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle was heading to Egypt on Monday ready for his first meeting with Morsi on Tuesday. It's not entirely clear whether Egypt's parliament will be reconvening on the same day.

msh/jlw (AFP, AP)