Atlantic Council

The State Council Administrative Court ruled Thursday that it does not have the jurisdiction to consider legal challenges to the supplement to the Constitutional Declaration or the president’s decision to reinstate the People’s Assembly, state TV reported. The court referred challenges to the latter to the Supreme Constitutional Court, according to state-run MENA. 

CONSTITUTION

Brotherhood leader: Draft constitution expected in two weeks

[Egypt Independent, 7/19/2012] The Constituent Assembly has reached consensus on the majority of articles and will finalize an initial draft of the new constitution within two weeks, said a Muslim Brotherhood leader who serves on the panel. The statement came just before the State Council Administrative Court adjourned a case Thursday challenging the assembly's formation until a request to change the presiding judges is resolved. A request to change the judges in the case is also being considered by another circuit within the administrative court, which will reconvene on 30 July. The State Council Administrative Court adjourned its hearing of the lawsuit on Thursday until that matter can be resolved.

COURTS

Court postpones judge change decision in Constituent Assembly case

[Egypt Independent, 7/18/2012] A court hearing on whether to change the panel of judges that would rule on the invalidity of the Constituent Assembly has been postponed to 30 July, the Administrative Court decided on Wednesday. Muslim Brotherhood lawyers had submitted a request to change the judging panel because the same panel ruled on a similar case to dissolve the first Constituent Assembly in April. Muslim Brotherhood lawyer Abdel Moneim Abdel Maqsoud said the court is obligated by law to wait until a new judging panel is formed to rule on the charges, a process that may take up to a month.

Administrative court recuses itself from controversial cases

[Egypt Independent, Al-Masry Al-Youm (Arabic) 7/19/2012] The State Council Administrative Court ruled Thursday that it does not have the jurisdiction to consider legal challenges to the supplement to the Constitutional Declaration or the president’s decision to reinstate the People’s Assembly, state TV reported. The court referred challenges to the latter to the Supreme Constitutional Court, according to state-run MENA. The State Council Administrative Court also adjourned its consideration of a challenge to the body tasked with drafting the constitution until a request to change the judges in the case is resolved.

GOVERNMENT

Brotherhood strategizes for next parliamentary elections

[Egypt Independent, 7/18/2012] The Muslim Brotherhood Guidance Bureau met Wednesday to plan the next parliamentary elections in coordination with the Freedom and Justice Party’s legal committee and some members of the FJP executive office. Brotherhood sources told Al-Masry Al Youm that participants in the meeting discussed the Brotherhood’s plan for competing in the elections, and ways to coordinate with other political forces. Former FJP parliamentarian Gamal Hanafy said that the reinstatement of Parliament is almost impossible, so the Brotherhood is now focusing on speeding up the process of drafting the constitution so the president can call for parliamentary elections.

Kamal El-Ganzouri caretaker government to continue through Ramadan

[Daily News Egypt, Al Sharq Al Awsat (Arabic), 7/18/2012] Prime Minister Kamal El-Ganzouri’s caretaker cabinet will continue in office until after Ramadan, officials have said. According to Planning and International Cooperation Minister Faiza Abou El-Naga, President Mohamed Morsy met with the cabinet on Wednesday and tasked it with continuing to assume its duties and tackle the five main points of his first 100 days program. The Ganzouri cabinet is likely to remain in power even after Morsy names his prime minister as he will then have the long task of naming individual ministers in consultation with the premier.

SOCIETY

Egypt's ex-spy chief Omar Suleiman dies, military funeral Friday

[Ahram Online, 7/19/2012] Egypt's former spy chief Omar Suleiman died early on Thursday aged 76 whilst undergoing medical tests in the United States. "He was fine, it happened all of a sudden," Hussein Kamal, the head of Suleiman's presidential campaign team and head of his personal office, told Reuters. "He was undergoing medical examinations," he added, without revealing the cause of death. Egypt's state-run news agency MENA claimed Suleiman had developed a lung disease months ago, which later caused heart problems. An Egyptian diplomatic source in Washington told MENA that arrangements were being made to transfer his body back to Egypt.

Police teargas demonstrators before Syrian Embassy in Cairo

[Egypt Independent, Al-Masry Al-Youm (Arabic), 7/18/2012] Police threw tear gas canisters at scores of Egyptian and Syrian activists demonstrating before the Syrian Embassy in the Garden City area of Cairo on Wednesday evening, demanding death to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the severing of diplomatic ties between Egypt and the Syrian regime. Police forces shot cartridge bullets in the air to disperse the demonstrators, who in turn threw stones back at them and blocked the Corniche road. The clashes began when the demonstrators attempted to raise the flag of the Syrian revolution atop the embassy.

REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

EU foreign policy chief Ashton arrives in Cairo for 2-day visit

[Ahram Online, 7/18/2012] European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton arrived in Egypt on Wednesday evening for a two-day visit. Ashton is scheduled to meet with newly-inaugurated Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, influential local political figures, heads of Egyptian political parties and civil society representatives. On Friday, Ashton is slated to attend a conference in Cairo devoted to women's issues, according to Egyptian state news agency MENA.

Morsy meets Palestinian leaders at presidential palace

[Egypt Independent, Al-Masry Al-Youm (Arabic), 7/19/2012] President Mohamed Morsy received Hamas political bureau head Khaled Meshaal at the presidential palace in Heliopolis Thursday. Morsy and Meshaal discussed Egypt's efforts to support the Palestinian cause, the Palestinian reconciliation process and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, as well as ways of supporting the people of the Gaza Strip. Meshaal said Thursday that both Hamas and the Egyptian authorities are cooperating and coordinating with each other to help stabilize the security in Sinai. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was also in Cairo on a separate trip and met with Morsy Wednesday amid reports that the Palestinian parties would soon conduct their own meeting. In a statement to reporters following the talks, Abbas welcomed the prospect of meeting with Meshaal to restart the stalled reconciliation process.

Photo Credit: AP