MB rejects junta's decision to dissolve parliament

The Muslim Brotherhood has rejected the military’s decision to dissolve the Egyptian parliament and has demanded that a referendum be held on the issue, according to Press TV. The party that secured the largest bloc of seats in two rounds of parliamentary elections in December 2011 and January 2012, issued a statement on Saturday saying "dangerous days" were ahead and the political gains of the revolution that toppled former dictator Hosni Mubarak on February 11, 2011 could be wiped out. The parliament should only be dissolved by a popular referendum, and the order to dissolve the assembly "represents a coup against the whole democratic process," the statement added. The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) -- the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood -- said in another statement that the decision showed the military council's desire to "take possession of all powers despite the will of the people." Egypt's ruling military council formally announced the dissolution of the parliament on Saturday following a Supreme Court ruling earlier in the week. Some critics have compared the move to the beginning of Algeria's civil war in 1992, when the army cancelled an election an Islamic party was winning. Egyptians are casting their ballots in a two-day presidential runoff election that began on Saturday and runs until Sunday which pits the candidate of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party, Mohammed Morsi, against former Prime Minister Ahmad Shafiq. More than 50 million people are eligible to vote.