The entire Parliament will be dissolved following the Supreme Constitutional Court ruling that one-third of its MPs elected to single-winner seats were chosen on an unconstitutional basis, the court's deputy chairman told state-run Al-Ahram newspaper. The verdict said that the ruling is final and doesn't need to go through any other procedures before being implemented. All previous decisions made by Parliament will remain valid, according to the ruling. The largely Islamist Parliament's legislative authorities will be transferred to the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. The decision comes ahead of a presidential runoff slated for Saturday and Sunday, pitting former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq against Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Morsy. Shafiq's candidacy was upheld Thursday in a parallel court ruling that ruled the Political Isolation Law, which would have barred him from the contest, unconstitutional. That law would have banned any top official who served in the Mubarak regime during the last 10 years from running for office. The court decision also comes on the heels of a newly formed Constituent Assembly, elected by Parliament and tasked to write the upcoming constitution. The fate of this process in light of Thursday's ruling remains unknown. Acting as the country's executive power, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces amended the law on parliamentary elections several times over the transitional period. At issue was the last amendment, which reversed an earlier stipulation that parties could not compete for single-winner seats in the parliamentary elections that began last fall.
