Amid mounting tension between Egypt's Islamist political forces and the judiciary, Muslim Brotherhood lawyer Abdel-Moneim Abdel-Maqsoud described Tuesday's ruling by Egypt's High Constitutional Court (HCC), which overturned a presidential decree reinstating the People's Assembly, as "worthless."
The HCC verdict, which suspended a decree issued Sunday by President Mohamed Morsi restoring the dissolved lower house of Egypt's parliament, caused an uproar among Islamist political forces.
"We have filed a lawsuit calling for the replacement of the presiding judges in the case, since it has been proven that these judges were not qualified to look into the case," Abdel-Maqsoud told reporters following Tuesday's court ruling.
"The court did not have the right to rule in this case without first looking into our lawsuit," he said. "This verdict, therefore, is worthless."
"Nevertheless, we respect the law and the constitution, and are continuing our efforts to defend legitimate rights," Abdel-Maqsoud added.
Egypt's Islamist political forces have stood behind Morsi since the latter announced his controversial decree on Sunday. Revolutionary figures, for their part, had mixed reactions to the decree, with some supporting it – as it wrests legislative authority from the military council – while others claimed the move represented a violation of Egypt's judicial authorities.
Analysts say the current impasse could represent the first serious confrontation between the military council and Egypt's first freely-elected president since the latter took office on 30 June.
