(Photo from The Freedom and Justice Party’s Facebook page)
Former parliamentarians belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) held a press conference on Saturday to insist on the legality of the Shura Council.
The council was dissolved, along with the suspension of the constitution, following the ouster of former president Mohammed Morsi.
The FJP parliamentarians denounced the “military coup” for attacking a democratically elected government, citing several elections and referendums that they claim place legitimate power in the hands of Morsi and the council.
“The military coup overthrew the Egyptian people’s hopes to complete their democratic institutions and demolished all of their achievements, specifically the constitution, the president and the Shura Council,” the statement read. They added that they consider all changes made by the interim government and armed forces, including the suspension of the constitution, to be invalid.
The statement voiced an outcry to the international community for support, calling on parliaments worldwide to pressure their governments into “standing by the Egyptian people, and not a dictatorial, military coup.” They also requested that parliaments declare their continued recognition of the recently disbanded Shura Council.
The parliamentarians called on the Egyptian public to participate in peaceful pro-Morsi demonstrations to protest the “invalid” measures that resulted from the military-sponsored removal of the president.
In an attempt to refute attacks on the FJP and Morsi for having neglected to share power, parliamentarians argued that their government had opened a number of official outlets for public expression of opinion.
