The High Constitutional Court's (HCC) decision on Tuesday night to cancel President Mohamed Morsi's reinstatement of the People's Assembly has provoked an angry response from Egyptian Islamists.
"The HCC is making itself the guardian of political life in Egypt and this will back fire on everyone," said Yasser Hammad, spokesman of the Salafist Nour Party.
"The president doesn’t have to abide by the HCC's ruling unless his decision violated the law or constitution, which in Morsi's case is not applicable," added Hammad.
"The verdict was a shock to the Muslim Brotherhood," said Ali Bateekh, a member of the group's Guidance Bureau. Blocking the president's decision is not part of the HCC's jurisdiction, he added.
The president's legal team, made up of prominent judges, has strongly backed Morsi's decision to reinstate the People's Assembly, according to Bateekh.
However, despite his misgivings, Morsi is likely to accept the court's decision, stated Bateekh.
Ahmed Abu-Baraka, legal advisor to the Freedom and Justice Party, described the court's decision as "political bullying in the name of the law."
"The HCC is not entitled to issue such a ruling. The president's decree is automatically effective and the parliament must carry on with its meetings," said Abu-Baraka
In mid-June, the HCC declared the law that governed last year's legislative polls to be unconstitutional. One day later, Egypt's then-ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) ordered the dissolution of the People's Assembly.
Morsi's executive decision on Sunday to restore parliament's lower house – one of his first acts as Egypt's first freely-elected head of state – was met with both praise and condemnation, with many legal experts questioning the move's legality. The Egyptian Judges Club, for one, an informal grouping of judicial officials, unleashed a fierce attack on Morsi and his executive decree.
