A legal body representing President Mohamed Morsi of Egypt on 13 March filed an appeal against a court ruling cancelling Egypt’s controversial parliamentary polls. The Egyptian State Lawsuit Authority (ESLA) filed the suit on behalf of the president, and the Supreme Administrative Court will examine the case on 17 March. On 6 March, a lower court had ordered the cancellation of the April 22 parliamentary elections. The ESLA argued Morsi was acting within his sovereign powers when he ratified the law, arguing that it was beyond the lower court’s jurisdiction to cancel the elections.
The Muslim Brotherhood and its allies won an overwhelming majority in legislative polls in the winter of 2011-2012 before that Parliament was dissolved. The opposition, less organised than the Brotherhood, insists that the president appoint a new government before the elections. The presidency however says the new Parliament should have the right to appoint a Cabinet.