An Egyptian court ruled Tuesday that Egypt's state of emergency officially ends today at 4 p.m. local time.
The army-backed interim authorities declared a state of emergency and nighttime curfew after the August 14 bloody dispersal of two protest camps set up by supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi.
At the time, the authorities said the emergency would last for one month to contain mass protests sparked by the sit-ins dispersals, which left hundreds dead and thousands injured.
But in September the government extended the emergency for two more months.
Later, the authorities eased the curfew several times, except on Fridays where it still starts at 7 p.m.
Hours before the court order, the government had suggested that the state of emergency would expire on November 14.
No official statement, however, has been issued following the court order.
Ending state of emergency 'superficial decision': Pro-Morsi coalition
Leaders of ousted president Mohamed Morsi's main support bloc have said that a court ruling stating that Egypt's current state of emergency should expire on Tuesday is a "superficial decision" that is out of touch with the situation on the ground.
"It will take time to assess the outcome of the court verdict, but all indications on the ground show that [police] oppression has not stopped," Amr Darrag, a leader of the Pro-Morsi National Alliance for the Defense of Legitimacy, told Anadolu Agency.
The Administrative Court on Tuesday ruled that Egypt's state of emergency, imposed by the military-backed authorities – along with a nighttime curfew – hours after the bloody August 14 dispersal of two pro-democracy protest camps, would officially end on Wednesday at 4pm (local time).
The government said it was committed to enforcing the ruling, but did not give a date for its implementation, saying it was awaiting the "verdict text to start enforcing it."
The army, meanwhile, said it would continue to enforce the nighttime curfew until it received a court ruling on the expiration of the state of emergency.
Darrag said that the ruling had spared the government the need to hold a popular referendum on extending the state of emergency.
Under a constitutional declaration issued after Morsi's ouster, the government must hold a national referendum if it wants to extend the state of emergency beyond three months.
"Any referendum on extending the state of emergency will be met with a massive 'No' vote," he said.
Darrag said that, even if the ruling was implemented by the government, it would remain "a superficial, ineffective move that does not benefit [constitutional] legitimacy and democracy in Egypt, both of which have been totally negated since July 3," when Morsi was ousted by Egypt's military establishment.
Madgi Qurqur, another leader of the pro-Morsi alliance, said that the expiration of the state of emergency would help reignite the "revolutionary spirit" in Egypt.
"The ruling will lead to the expansion of daily peaceful protests across the country, which will ratchet up further pressure on the coup authorities," he told AA.
But he ruled out the idea of holding of another major pro-democracy sit-in like those violently dispersed by security forces in mid-August.
"The alliance made major sacrifices in past sit-ins," he said. "It is not ready to endanger the lives of supporters again, since the coup authorities only deal in bullets and bloodletting."
Reporting by Ahmed Gamal and Hussein Qabani
englishnews@aa.com.tr
