Interim president Adly Mansour dissolved on Friday afternoon the Shura Council with his first constitutional declaration.
Mansour released the declaration shortly after appointing Mostafa Higazy and Ali Awad Saleh as his political and constitutional advisors respectively.
The first article of the declaration involved the dissolution of the Shura Council, the only functioning house of parliament after the overthrow of former president Mohamed Morsi. The Supreme Constitutional Court issued a verdict in June deeming the Shura Council unconstitutional and postponed its dissolution until after elections for the House of Representatives.
The Shura Council was granted legislative authority by Morsi until the elections for the House of Representatives.
The second article appointed head of general intelligence Mohamed Raafat Shehata as security advisor for the president. It also appointed Mohamed Farid Tohami as the new head of general intelligence.
Shehata was appointed as head of general intelligence by Morsi, following the attack on an army checkpoint near Rafah in August that killed 16 soldiers. He replaced Murad Muwafy, who reportedly stated that intelligence authorities had information on the attack before it took place.
The armed forces statement which announced Mansour as interim president instead of Morsi, gave the former the authority to issue constitutional declarations.
