Egypt: High court orders Parliament to be dissolved
June 7, 2012 An election runoff between the two major candidates Ahmed Shafik, a former highly appointed official under the Hosni Mubarrack government and Mohamed Morsi, from the political organization the Muslim Brotherhood, will draw the election contest on Saturday and Sunday. Yesterday's high court decision sent shockwaves through the country with the announcement that appeals to disqualify Mr. Shafik from the election were unconstitutional. This allows the election to progress unimpinged. However some opponents of Shafik view the decision as a strong attempt by former Mubarrack court sympathizers to qualify a predecessor official who served loyally under the overthrown autocratic regime. Ahmed Shafik who has campaigned in recent months as the future face for change in a society led by a democracy like government will be the best hope in leading the country forward. His opponent Mohamed Morsi is likely to suffer an election set back going into this weekend's contest because a majority of the members of parliament were removed from office yesterday and of the same Muslim Brotherhood political party as Mr. Morsi. The result of these events presents the opportunity for whomever becomes the elected leader to have larger discretion than previously envisioned to assign parliament membership and thus shape the structure of a new government.
The trial ended in the hearings of ousted president Hosni Mubarrack on allegations of war crimes that purportedly had occurred during the popular revolt movement by protestors retaliating against the government. The 82 year old former leader was facing 6 charges in the case, however the verdict ruled him guilty on just several counts of refusing to prevent the military violence against protesters that led to the death of nearly a hundred organizers in the Tahrir Square near Cairo. During the ensuing violence of five months allegedly over 1500 protestors were killed. The guilty verdict will carry a lifetime imprisonment sentence however many in the country had felt that an injustice had been served as they called for the maximum death penalty be applied.