Egypt court rulings seen as reversal of revolution

McClatchy Newspapers

CAIRO

With a pair of court rulings, forces aligned with fallen former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak succeeded Thursday in reversing many of what had been considered democratic gains that have taken place here in the 16 months since Mubarak was toppled from power. Critics denounced the developments as the equivalent of a coup.

The reversals came in the form of two rulings handed down by the Supreme Constitutional Court, all of whose members were appointed by Mubarak. The first ruling essentially dissolved Parliament, whose members had been elected last year in what was widely considered the first free and democratic election in Egypt’s history.

In the second, the court endorsed the eligibility for the presidency of Ahmed Shafik, Mubarak’s last prime minister, whom Parliament had sought to ban from office as a holdover from the old regime.

Combined with the granting to the military this week of broad powers to arrest civilians, the decisions seemed to complete efforts by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which has officially ruled Egypt since Mubarak’s ouster, to regain control of the state.