REUTERS
Protesters take part in a demonstration at Tahrir square in Cairo on on June 15. Activists called for a protest on Friday and Islamists warned that the gains of the revolt that toppled Hosni Mubarak could be wiped out after Egypt's supreme court dissolved parliament. Picture: Reuters/Suhaib Salem
Cairo- Egypt’s supreme court ruled on Thursday to dissolve the Islamist-led parliament, plunging a troubled transition to democracy into turmoil just two days before elections.
Islamists who gained most from Hosni Mubarak’s overthrow decried what they called a “coup” by an army-led establishment still full of Mubarak-era officials. They said the street movement that spurred last year’s uprising would not let it pass.
The parliamentary vote earlier this year had swept long repressed Islamists into a commanding position in the legislature, a feat the Muslim Brotherhood had aimed to repeat with their candidate in Saturday’s and Sunday’s presidential vote.
In a further setback for the Islamists, the Supreme Constitutional Court ruled that Mubarak’s last prime minister, Ahmed Shafik, could stay in the presidential race against the Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsy.
Morsy pledged to press forward with his presidential bid regardless and warned against foul play
Shafik who was appointed premier in the last days of Mubarak’s rule, hailed the rulings as “historic”. – Reuters
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