Dr. Mohamed Saad Katatni, Speaker of the Egyptian People’s Assembly (the country’s lower house of parliament), received the ruling of the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) issued on Thursday, June14 and published in the Official Gazette on the same day.
This verdict rules unconstitutional some of the paragraphs in certain articles of parliamentary law related to right of candidacy for individual or independent seats of the People’s Assembly (PA).
This judgment has been interpreted in various ways by experienced scholars of constitutional law – regarding the application of such a ruling: is it related and confined to individual seats, or to party candidates who ran for and won individual seats as well; or does it necessarily mean a complete dissolution of parliament, or – as pointed by some specialized legal experts – this ruling does not apply at all to the current parliament.
The PA Speaker mentioned that the Constitutional Declaration issued on March 30, 2011, which governs all state institutions and establishments, is devoid of any implicit or explicit mention of any body or authority entitled to implement or impose such a ruling.
Dr. Katatni further added that he referred the verdict to the PA’s Committee on Constitutional and Legislative Affairs for consultation with professors of constitutional law, to determine how to best deal with this provision.
He asserted that the PA was elected by the free will of the people. Thus, it is not permissible for any authority or state institution to issue a decision to dissolve it, except through a constitutional referendum in accordance with the constitutional precedents of 1987 and 1990.
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