Egypt's highest court ruled on Sunday that the nation's Islamist-dominated legislature and constitutional panel were illegally elected, dealing a serious blow to the Islamists' hold on power and prolonging the political instability that has gripped the country since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak two years ago.

But the ruling by the Supreme Constitutional Court also said that the legislature's upper house, the only one currently sitting, would not be dissolved until the Parliament's lower chamber is elected later this year or early in 2014.

The same court ruled to dissolve Parliament's lower chamber in June, a move that led to the promotion of the upper chamber, the Shura Council, to a lawmaking house. The Shura Council, long derided as nothing more than a "talk shop", was elected by about 7 percent of the electorate last year.

It was not immediately clear whether the ruling on the 100-member constitutional panel would cancel the charter it drafted. The constitution was adopted in a nationwide vote in December with a relatively low turnout of about 35 percent.

But even if it does not, the ruling will question the legitimacy of the disputed charter pushed through by allies of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in an all-night session late last year. Critics say the charter restricts freedoms and gives clerics a say in legislation. The Islamists who drafted it hail the document as the best one Egypt has ever had.

Tension heightened

The ruling seemed likely to heighten tension between the Muslim Brotherhood and the judiciary over judicial reforms that the Islamists see as necessary to removing Hosni Mubarak-era appointees but judges see as a bid to purge their ranks.

Regardless of their consequences on the ground, Sunday's ruling is likely to deepen Egypt's protracted political instability. It will give heart to the mostly secular and liberal opposition, while providing fresh ammunition to the argument often repeated by the president's supporters that the judiciary is filled with Mubarak loyalists determined to derail the nation's political process.

Morsi, elected nearly a year ago, tried to reinstate Parliament's lower chamber just days after he came to office on June 30 but eventually bowed to the court ruling and backed down.

AP-Reuters

(China Daily 06/03/2013 page12)