Independent lawmaker Mahmoud al-Khodairy described the Supreme Constitutional Court decision to suspend the reinstatement of the People’s Assembly as “judicial error that no one could have ever imagined.”
Earlier this week, President Mohamed Morsy ordered the lower house of Parliament to reconvene despite the June court ruling that its election was unconstitutional. On Tuesday, the court ordered Morsy's decision halted.
“The constitutional court cannot cancel an administrative decision. It’s outside of its jurisdiction to suspend a decision,” Khodairy, who heads the People’s Assembly Legislative and Constitutional Committee and is a former vice president of the Court of Cassation, said in an interview with the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated channel Masr 25 Tuesday.
He said only the Supreme Administrative Court, which rules on disputes involving government bodies, could annul a presidential decree.
Khodairy who was elected to Parliament with the support of the Muslim Brotherhood, clarified that he supports the earlier Supreme Constitutional Court ruling invalidating the election of independent MPs, but said that the court cannot dissolve Parliament or suspend a presidential decision.
The Muslim Brotherhood’s Guidance Bureau suggested during a meeting Wednesday that Morsy call for referendum on the reinstatement of the People's Assembly.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
