CAIRO, June 14, 2012 (AFP) - A senior leader of the Muslim Brotherhood's political arm in Egypt on Thursday said a court's ruling that parliament was unconstitutional was a “military coup,” in a statement on his Facebook page.
A series of measures, including giving the military powers of arrests, and then the court ruling were “a complete coup through which the military council erases the most honourable period in this nation's history,” said Mohammed al-Beltagi.
Beltagi is a senior lawmaker with the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, which dominates the parliament that the constitutional court ruled was illegitimate.
Egypt's top constitutional court on Thursday ruled the whole Islamist-dominated parliament illegitimate, paving the way for the military to resume legislative powers, state media and a military source said.
“The constitutional court affirmed in the details of its verdict that the parliamentary elections were not constitutional, and the entire composition of parliament has been illegitimate since its election,” the official MENA news agency reported.
Members of the ruling military council were in a meeting and did not immediately issue a statement. But a military source said the court decision gave the military legislative powers.
“We don't want it (the power) but according to the court decision and that law, it reverts back to us,” the source said.
The military suspended the constitution after a popular uprising overthrew president Hosni Mubarak last year and left in charge army generals who rule under an interim charter.
Faruq Sultan, the head of the constitutional court, told AFP that the decision “voids” parliament and must be respected by the authorities.
