Court orders suspension of Egyptian elections

CAIRO - The Associated Press

A low-level administrative court ruled May 9 in favor of a lawsuit calling for Egypt’s presidential election to be suspended, a decision that is likely to be overturned, a judicial official and a lawyer said. Legal experts said that the order issued by a provincial court would probably be reversed, because the suit was based on a technicality. A court at Benha ruled that the Supreme Elections Commission overstepped its mandate by calling on voters to head to the polls on May 23 to cast their ballots, Egypt’s state news agency reported.

The court said that the ruling military council is the only body authorized to make that appeal, the Middle East News Agency reported.