In the two-day run-off beginning tomorrow around 50 million Egyptian voters will choose the country's first democratically elected president with former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq taking on Muslim Brotherhood-backed candidate Mohamed Morsi.
But that historic milestone has been overshadowed by rising concern about yesterday's Supreme Constitutional Court ruling dissolving the parliament.
The court decreed that the rules governing the recent parliamentary elections were invalid. It tossed out a popularly elected parliament in which about half the seats were controlled by Islamists.
The court also invalidated a law that would have barred Shafiq from running based on his affiliation with former President Hosni Mubarak, who stepped down after weeks of street protests in Egypt.
The Muslim Brotherhood has warned that Egypt's fragile democratic gains are under threat, after the surprise court ruling overturning last year's parliamentary elections, the BBC reported.
Egypt could see "dangerous" days ahead if power is returned to those linked to the previous regime, it said. MORE
