[Updated at 11:44 a.m. ET] Egypt's highest court declared the parliament invalid Thursday, and the country's interim military rulers promptly declared full legislative authority, triggering a new level of chaos and confusion in the country's leadership.
The Supreme Constitutional Court also ruled that a former member of President Hosni Mubarak's regime may run in a presidential election runoff this weekend.
The ruling on parliament means that it must be dissolved, state TV reported.
The court found that all articles making up the law that regulated parliamentary elections are invalid, said Showee Elsayed, a constitutional lawyer.
Parliament had been in session for just over four months. It was dominated by Islamists, a group long viewed with suspicion by the military.
The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, in control of the country since Mubarak's ouster, announced that it now has full legislative power and will announce a 100-person assembly that will write the country's new constitution. The court's rulings come a day after Egypt's military-led government imposed a de facto martial law, extending the arrest powers of security forces.
FULL STORY
I thought, it was just a matter of time, when the military would assume total control. It takes the military or a military controlled by a dictator to keep these poorly educated 3rd world people under control. They don't understand democracy and when you try to give them complete freedom, they end up fighting each other for domination.
These people don't deserve democracy because they have no clue concerning how to handle their new found freedoms.
You sound harsh, but I have to agree with you. I used to live in Egypt. What a mess!
Better the military than the Muslim Brotherhood.
Read the story dimwitted fool. The elections are still going to happen and the Brotherhood is still going to take control.
Cut off aid to Egypt. Period. We send, what: over $5B per year to them? In return for nothing.
Let them buy their own tanks and guns. Hardly makes sense for us to fund a country that is increasingly bellicose, and could well be a direct opponent to Israel in short order.
Another Obama failure.
We can't say we didn't see this one coming from a mile away....
Ah, smell that Arab Spring?!!
Obama: The Freshmaker!
Great News! Maybe even in time for Madonna to add Cairo to her tour and show some class. Who knows, she may convert a few old fashioned men in beards to the secular religion of North Easterrn Desonstructive Post Disco Trampism
BHO's 'Smart Diplomacy' looks smarter every day!
//
14+ centuries of consanguinity has left Islam nucking futs!
Lets hear it for Obama's foreign policy. Nice job. He tossed a stable ally under the bus and now Egypt is in chaos, military control and the Muslim Brotherhood as the leading political party. Unbelievable. Is Obama on our side?
AeroJack7
+100
"Is Obama on our side?" No.
Freedom and Islam are like oil and water...they do not mix. I am glad the military finally stepped in and hope they can keep their hold until some kind of government that is not hate driven be established. This is very good news, indeed.
I know that logic, politics and religious bigotry will never mix. Would like to point ou, that until the end of WW-ll almost all the Muslim countriies were European colonies. They could not develop democracy as the were under the control of foreign (Christian) armies. Maybe, given time. How many cenuries and how many wars did it take for European Christians.
Egyptians are highly educated and that's a major problem. They have had universal ed. through college for free and then end up with millions of young people under 30 with no career or job prospects because Egypt is small and land is at a premium. Such idleness, esp. among young men, is often a cause for civil unrest and disruption. The same demographic is true throughout the Middle East, so expect more uprisings and violence. Unfortunately for Egypt, it has thrived for decades on tourism and the Muslim Brotherhood that hates the tourists and the pol. instability are combining to make Egypt a poorer and more jobless country than previously.
Behold the fruits of the Arab Spring celebrated by Barack Hussein Obama one year ago.
Egypt can only maintain its stability with a military led government due to the radial element that is always an underlying threat of wanting chaos and civil unrest.. Freedom and democracy does not work with all societies since to much freedom bring about religious anarchy as in the cast with Iran. But the bubble heads in the media still follow the old freedom mantra not realizing they are causing undo deaths .
Josh you are unfortunately correct. Most Muslim countries are unfortunately not ready for Democracy and certainly not ready for a Western way of life. Iraq is a good example. We should have used whatever force necessary to inspect the sites we wanted to inspect wrecking everything in our path and then left the mess for Saddaam to clean up. They only understand brute force and in the absence of it will fight each other if nobody else is available, Driil here drill now and stay the hell away from those people
Until each and every one of Mubarek's accomplices are named and dragged to Justice as he has been, Justice remains invalid.
Mubarek was no-more a 'lone wolf' criminal than Jerry Sandusky was. Both men had accomplices prfiting from covering-up their crimes.
Mubarak's main supply of accomplices can be tracked through tunnels under Israel's border leading into Egypt, and with Mubarak's help spreading black market Israeli made weapons throughout the world..
@john.......first, all egyptians are not poorly educated as you alluded to. second, there will never be democracy in any of the middle eastern countries period.........they don't want it in the same way you and i think of living in an open society. too much history and culture to overcome.