Egypt: President Morsi orders dissolved parliament back

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi (right) meets with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns (center) in the presence of Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr, in Cairo on July 8, 2012. Burns is in the capital to meet with a broad spectrum of Egyptian leaders, politicians, and civil society representatives. / KHALED DESOUKI/AFP/Getty Images

(CBS/AP) CAIRO - Egypt's official news agency said the country's top generals are holding an "emergency meeting" to discuss the surprise decision by the president to recall the dissolved, Islamist-dominated parliament.

The Middle East News Agency said the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces that comprises top military chiefs was meeting Sunday to "review and discuss the consequences" of President Mohammed Morsi's decision earlier today.

Morsi on Sunday ordered the country's Islamist-dominated parliament to reconvene in defiance of a military decree dissolving the legislature last month following a court ruling that a third of its members were illegally elected, the state news agency reported.

The decree by Morsi, a longtime Muslim Brotherhood member and Egypt's first democratically-elected president, also called for new parliamentary elections to be held within 60 days of the adoption of a new constitution for the country, which is not expected before late this year.

The surprise move by Morsi will almost certainly lead to a clash with the powerful generals who formally handed power to him on June 30 after spending 16 months at the nation's helm following the ouster of Hosni Mubarak in a popular uprising.

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Morsi came to power after narrowly defeating Mubarak's last prime minister, Ahmed Shafiq, in a June 16-17 runoff. He was declared the winner on June 24. He symbolically took the oath of office five days later at Tahrir Square, birthplace of the revolt that toppled Mubarak's regime on Feb. 11, 2001.

Last month, the then-ruling generals ordered the legislature dissolved following a ruling by Egypt's highest court that a third of the parliament's members were illegally elected. The military announced a "constitutional declaration" on June 16 that gave it legislative powers in the absence of parliament, and stripped Morsi of much of his presidential authority. It also gave the generals control over the process of drafting a new constitution and immunity from any civilian oversight.

A conservative Islamist, Morsi's move may have been inspired in large part by a desire to assert his authority in the face of the military, which has been the country's de facto ruler since army officers seized power in a 1952 coup that toppled the monarchy. But Morsi's defiance of a ruling by the country's highest court could backfire, leading to charges that he has no respect for the judiciary.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, the formal name of the body that groups the country's top generals, has yet to comment on Morsi's decree.

[Nikos_Retsos]

The Mubarak corrupt regime has been wiped out by the people of Egypt, and his appointed Supreme Court judges must be replaced because they don't have any legitimacy in the new political order. Until that is done, probably by a new law when the parliament convenes, the corrupt Mubarak appointees at the Egyptian Supreme Court cannot have the final world in what happens in Egypt. The people do, through their elected representatives, and the Mubarak's appointed judges cannot invalidate the elections in order to keep their jobs.

There was a "Revolution," and a "New Political Order" in Egypt. And all Revolutions wipe out the vestiges of the old political order. The Mubarak's coterie at the Egyptian Supreme Court, therefore, are nothing more than furniture of the Mubarak's corrupt regime. They have no legitimacy, and they didn't have the authority to fire the parliament elected by the people.

Strictly speaking, the remnants of an old, corrupt, and overthrown regime cannot have supreme power over the new political order anywhere! Let's not forget that Ivory Coast's Supreme Court judges who invalidated the election victory of Mr. Alexandro Quattara have been fired, and the person who had appointed them, former president Laurent Gbagbo, is waiting trial at the the International Criminal Court in Hague! Nikos Retsos, retired professor

[askagain]

The power struggle between the president, Egypt's highest court, and the military should be interesting. My bet is that the court and the military will prevail because they are in agreement. All along, there has been the question of how much power Egypt's military is willing to cede to a civilian government.

[melpol12]

There is no gain in bribing Islamist Morsi to be America`s friend, if he chooses let him dare become an enemy. There are millions of bombs gathering dust, dropping them on Egypt will save maintenance costs. But if Morsi and his Brotherhood want to pray for peace, the US should not interfere with their holy wishes.

[formerlyluvnut]

Neanderthals, all of them. LMAO.