Egypt’s supreme court ruled Thursday that last year’s parliamentary election was unconstitutional and called for the dissolution of the lower house of parliament, BBC reported. The court ruled a third of parliament’s lawmakers were illegally elected. 

The Wall Street Journal reported that a law intended to block the presidential candidacy of Ahmed Shafiq, Hosni Mubarak’s last prime minister, was ruled unconstitutional. The law barred former regime members from running in the election, according to the Associated Press. 

Shafiq will be allowed to run in the elections that start Saturday. He will run against Mohamed Morsi, head of the Muslim Brotherhood’s political arm. 

The decision has prompted the interim military rulers to declare full legislative authority. 

From the AP: 

The Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists have the most to lose from a new vote. The Brotherhood won nearly half of parliament's seats and ultraconservatives known as Salafis won another 20 percent. Many of those seats were among those dedicated to independents.

In response, the Muslim Brotherhood said it would send Egypt into a “dark tunnel,” BBC reported. 

After the ruling was announced, a crowd of citizens shouted their disapproval outside the court, CNN reported. The group chanted slogans against the former Mubarak regime and Shafiq. 

Protester Ahmed Yousef told CNN, “The military wants Shafiq, the court will not rule against him - but we don’t care, we will continue to fight against him.”

 

 

 

Reach Executive Producer Agnus Dei Farrant here.