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Egypt presidency stresses respect for constitution, judiciary, judicial rulings Following reversal of president's reinstatement of People's Assembly, executive office reiterates its respect for Egypt's constitution, judiciary and judicial decisions
Amid mounting tension between Egypt's judicial and executive authorities, the presidential office on Wednesday reiterated its respect for "the constitution, the judiciary and judicial rulings." The statement followed a High Constitutional Court (HCC) ruling on Tuesday rejecting an executive decree – issued by President Mohamed Morsi on Sunday – reinstating Egypt's democratically-elected People's Assembly (the lower house of Egypt's parliament). "We stress that our decision reversing the ruling to dissolve Egypt's lower house, reconvening parliament and holding fresh [legislative] elections within 60 days after ratification of a new constitution was taken with a view towards respecting judicial rulings and the constitutional court ruling," the presidential office stated in a Wednesday press release. On Tuesday, hundreds of Morsi supporters gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square to express support for the president's reinstatement of parliament. At parliament's first and only session since its reinstatement on Tuesday, liberal and leftist MPs declined to attend in an expression of disapproval for Morsi's decree. The session only lasted a few minutes. Morsi spokesman Yasser Ali, meanwhile, stated that the executive decision restoring parliament's lower house had emanated from a "desire to maintain a functioning parliament during the current critical juncture in Egypt's history." On Sunday, in one of his first acts as Egypt's first freely-elected head of state, Morsi issued the surprise decree restoring Egypt's Islamist-led People's Assembly. In mid-June, the HCC had declared a parliamentary elections law – which governed last year's legislative polls – to be unconstitutional. The following day, Egypt's then-ruling military council ordered the dissolution of parliament's lower house.