Egypt's president orders parliament to reopen
The surprise move by the Islamist Mohammed Morsi could lead to a clash with Egypt's powerful generals.
A general view of the first Egyptian parliament session in January, after the revolution that ousted former President Hosni Mubarak, in Cairo, Egypt. President Mohammed Morsi has ordered the return of the country’s Islamist-dominated parliament that was dissolved by the powerful military.
Asmaa Waguih/AP/File
Cairo
Egypt's president on Sunday ordered the country's Islamist-dominated parliament to reconvene in defiance of a military decree dissolving the legislature last month following a court ruling that a third of its members were illegally elected, the state news agency reported.
The surprise move by the Islamist Mohammed Morsi will almost certainly lead to a clash with the powerful generals who formally handed power to him on June 30 after spending 16 months at the nation's helm following the ouster of Hosni Mubarak in a popular uprising.
The decree by Morsi, a longtime Muslim Brotherhood member, also called for new parliamentary elections to be held within 60 days of the adoption of a new constitution for the country, which is not expected before late this year.
Last month, the then-ruling military generals dissolved the legislature based on the ruling by the Supreme Constitutional Court, the country's highest tribunal.
