Egypt court reaffirms Parliament decision

CAIRO, July 9 (UPI) -- Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court Monday reaffirmed a decision to dissolve Parliament, a day after President Mohamed Morsi had ordered the body to reconvene.

The court's decision could lead to a confrontation between Morsi and his Islamist supporters, and Egypt's military council and courts, The New York Times reported.

Before last month's presidential election, the ruling military council ordered Parliament be dissolved after the Supreme Constitutional Court ruled the law under which the body had been elected was partly unconstitutional. The military took over legislative power and significantly reduced the authority of the president.

Some saw the council's move as an attempt to limit the powers of the Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood party, which held about half the seats in Parliament.

Yasser Ali, a presidential spokesman, said Monday Morsi's decree to reinstate the People's Assembly did not contradict the court's ruling against the parliamentary elections law, the Middle East News Agency reported.

Ali said Morsi respected the court's ruling and wasn't seeking conflict with the judiciary.

The current Parliament was to serve only until a new constitution was completed, to be followed by new legislative elections within 60 days, the Times said.

Gamal Eid, a human rights lawyer, called Morsi's decree "100 percent correct."

"It abolishes an executive order, and it is not related to the constitutional court," Eid said. "It negates the decision of the military council. If the choice is between the decree of an elected president and a military council with questionable legitimacy, then we choose the elected president."

Michael Wahid Hanna, a scholar at the Century Foundation -- a think tank in New York that describes itself as progressive and non-partisan -- said the decree amounted to "reinstating an unconstitutional Parliament. I think it's got disastrous consequences."