Barry Rubin: Breaking Story: Court Dissolves Egyptian Parliament; Army Takes Over; Civil War?

Breaking Story: Court Dissolves Egyptian Parliament; Army Takes Over; Civil War?

by Barry Rubin

The Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court has just invalidated the parliamentary election there. The parliament, 75 percent of whose members were Islamists, is being dissolved. The military junta has taken over total authority. The presidential election is still scheduled for a few dozen hours from now.

In short, everything is confused and everything is a mess. All calculations are thrown to the wind. What this appears to be is a new military coup.

Yes, it is under legal cover but nobody is going to see it as a group of judges-appointed by former President Husni Mubarak, remember--looking deep into the law books and coming up with a carefully reasoned decision based on precedent. No. This will be seen by every Islamist--whether Salafi or Muslim Brotherhood--and by most of the liberals, who feel closer to the Islamists than to the government, as if the 2011 revolution has just been reversed.

Prediction: massive violence.

Is this good for Israel? I don't know but it's a potential catastrophe for Israel but then so was the course it looked to be following as of this morning.

For updates on this story, check out Barry Rubin's original post: Breaking Story: Court Dissolves Egyptian Parliament; Army Takes Over; Civil War?

Barry Rubin is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center and editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal. His latest books are The Israel-Arab Reader (seventh edition), The Long War for Freedom: The Arab Struggle for Democracy in the Middle East (Wiley), and The Truth About Syria (Palgrave-Macmillan). His latest book is Israel: An Introduction, was published by Yale University Press in January 2012. You can read more of Barry Rubin's posts at Rubin Reports, and  Rubin Reports, on Pajamas Media 

Technorati Tag: Middle East and Egypt and Elections.