The court said that Article 60 of the Constitutional Declaration has mentioned that the People’s Assembly and Shūrá Council are to meet to choose 100 members of the constituent assembly to draft a constitution but it has not clearly stated that the members of parliament will obtain membership of this panel.

If there had been any intention to get MPs to obtain membership of this panel, the Constitutional Declaration would have stated it clearly, the court added.

Parliament’s insistence to get 50% of the membership of the constitutional assembly has caused uproar by liberal and other political parties in objection at what they called the parliament’s "political monopoly".

“The court ruling is the first of its kind to confront authoritarian monopoly of power, particularly by the post-revolution parliament,” constitution expert Dr. Shawqī al-Sayīd said.

Welcoming the decision, political groups and movements on Tuesday (April 10) started a march from outside the Council of State to parliament to celebrate the “court ruling and the victory of the revolutionary forces”. [Amānī Mājid, Husām al-Jiddāwī and Sāmih Lāshīn, al-Ahrām, April 11, p. 1] Read original text in Arabic