Egypt: Supreme Court delays ruling on legality of Constituent Assembly

By on December 2, 2012

morsi
Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court on Sunday delayed its ruling over the legality of the Constituent Assembly which finalized a draft constitution with the dominance of Islamists.

The court had been scheduled to rule on the legality of Constituent Assembly as well as the Shura Council (upper house) on Sunday, but judges were blocked by some 5,000 protesters outside the court.

The protesters also demanded the dissolution of the Supreme Court itself, official news agency MENA reported.

The demonstrators set up stages in front of the two gates of the court, installed loud speakers for their slogans and raised banners supporting the president’s recent constitutional declaration and the draft constitution, MENA stated.

Egypt will hold a referendum on the newly-written draft constitution on Dec. 15, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi on Saturday announced at the Cairo International Conference Center during a meeting with 85 members of the beleaguered Constituent Assembly which approved the draft constitution after a 17-hour marathon vote on Friday.

Egypt has been seeing a national-wide protest against the Muslim Brotherhood and President Morsi who issued a new constitutional declaration last month, granting him the absolute power inside Egypt.

According to the new constitutional declaration, all laws, decrees and constitutional declarations issued by the president since he came into office on June 30 are final and unchallengeable by any body.

Morsi, however, asserted Thursday that the declaration was only temporary, promising that it would be withdrawn as soon as the draft constitution was approved by Egyptians in the upcoming referendum.

Thousands of demonstrators flocked to squares and streets nationwide to show their support or opposition towards the first elected president and the constitutional declaration.

According to the health ministry, as many as 47 people were injured Saturday in protests outside Cairo University and at Tahrir square.

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