Cairo: An Egyptian court on Thursday rejected a lawsuit challenging the controversial temporary constitution drafted by the military, heightening a perceived power struggle between the newly elected Islamist president and the army generals.
The Administrative Court, hearing a lawsuit filed by Islamist lawyers, said it has no jurisdiction to review the temporary constitution, which grants the military extensive powers while curtailing those of the president.
The court on Thursday referred another case challenging President Mohammad Mursi’s order to recall parliament, to the Supreme Constitutional Court that earlier this month had annulled the presidential decision.
Following the rulings, the Islamist lawyers angrily chanted: “The people wants the judiciary purged”.
Days after he was inaugurated as Egypt’s first elected civilian president, Mursi decreed reinstatement of the Islamist-controlled legislature and called for an early election two months after a permanent constitution being written is approved in a public vote.
His move was seen as a challenge to the country’s judiciary and military generals who endorsed the house’s dissolution.
The Administrative Court, meanwhile, adjourned until July 30 a ruling on several lawsuits challenging a panel tasked by the disbanded parliament with writing a permanent constitution. The postponement was made after Islamist lawyers accused the judges of being biased and requested that they be replaced.
Since taking office late last month, President Mursi, a former senior official in the Muslim Brotherhood, has been locked in a sharp dispute with the country’s judiciary.
