Egypt’s Military Suspends Constitution, Disbands Parliament

New Junta to Rule by Decree Until Elections

Having taken power in the wake of long-time dictator Hosni Mubarak’s ouster, the Egyptian military today fulfilled some key demands of the protesters, announcing that they will disband the parliament and suspend the constitution pending its revision.

The moves may be welcomed in and of themselves, but the new junta also announced that they intend to rule entirely by decree until elections are held, meaning Egyptians can look forward to a minimum of six months under harsh martial law.

Opposition leaders were quick to call for the formation of a panel to draft an interim constitution and eventually a permanent constitution to provide a legal basis for their rule, but for the time being it seems the military is entirely uninterested in anything related to a post-rule era.

Indeed, though they said the elections will likely be held in approximately six months, the military gave no indication of when the exact date would be set nor whether all candidates would be permitted in the vote.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.