Egypt's High Constitutional Court on Thursday ruled that the Political Disenfranchisement Law is unconstitutional and that the means used to elect one third of the seats in parliament – those that had been reserved for individual candidacies – are unconstitutional.\
The court also ruled that lawmakers who hold single-winner seats, who make up one-third of Parliament, were elected on unconstitutional grounds.
Acting as the country’s executive power, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces amended the parliamentary elections law several times. At issue is the last amendment, which reversed an earlier stipulation that parties could not compete for single-winner seats in the elections that began last fall.
It is unclear whether new elections will be held for those seats alone or if the entire legislature may be disbanded.
Before the ruling, liberal MP Mohamed Abou Hamed wrote on Twitter that he hopes Parliament is dissolved, as the current Parliament is "not worthy of Egypt."
The Supreme Constitutional Court is Egypt's highest court, and its decisions cannot be appealed.
Shafiq’s lawyer, Shawqy al-Sayed, told the court the law represents an unprecedented case in Egypt’s political history and that it deprives those who are subject to it of their most basic constitutional rights.
He called the law "selective and vengeful," noting that it applies only to some of those who held posts within the dissolved National Democratic Party in violation of the constitutional principle of equality.
After his arguments, the court took a recess for deliberation and then reconvened.
The law, which was passed by Parliament and then approved by the ruling military council in April, bars former President Hosni Mubarak and anyone who served as vice president or prime minister or at the helm of his National Democratic Party during the last 10 years of his rule from running for office, as well as removing other political rights.
Shafiq was briefly disqualified from the race after the law was passed, but the Presidential Elections Commission reinstated him upon appeal and referred the law for constitutional review. The referral itself has also been the subject of debate, with some questioning whether the commission acted beyond its legal bounds.
In a non-binding report, a panel of court commissioners recently said that the elections commission is an administrative institution that does not have the jurisdiction to act as a legal body and refer the law for review. The panel said the constitutional court should not rule on the case for this reason, but that if it does, it should strike down the law.
The panel’s opinion is significant because court rulings are often in line with its judgment.
Meanwhile, dozens of protesters gathered Thursday morning outside the Supreme Constitutional Court in the Cairo neighborhood of Maadi, chanting in support of the law. For some, Shafiq’s potential exclusion is the last chance that a liberal candidate could be reinstated.
Traffic on the Nile Corniche was paralyzed, with cars lined up for several kilometers, prompting police to redirect vehicles to alternative routes. Tight security measures were imposed in the surrounding area and hundreds of soldiers and Central Security Forces, with their armored vehicles, lined up around the court.
Hatem Bagato, the secretary general of the commission, told Al-Masry Al-Youm Wednesday that the commission would have three options if the court upholds the law: reopen presidential nominations anew, re-conduct the first round among the original 12 candidates, excluding Shafiq, or hold a vote on Morsy's candidacy, requiring him to win at least 50 percent of valid votes. Bagato did not clarify exactly what he meant by valid votes.
According to Tareq Khedr, a professor of constitutional law at the Police Academy, if the court makes its decision after a Shafiq election victory, his presidency would be considered illegitimate and the election would have to be repeated.
Wasat Party MP Essam Sultan, who drafted the Political Isolation Law, as well as a number of judges, are observing the session. Supreme Constitutional Court head judge Farouk Sultan is among them, but will not preside over the review because of his position at the helm of the Presidential Elections Commission.
