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An Egyptian administrative court has suspended general elections that were scheduled to begin in April.
The court said the electoral law needed to be reviewed by the Supreme Constitutional Court to determine whether it conformed to the constitution.
President Mohamed Morsi had said the polls would begin on April 22, taking place in four stages over two months.
The elections have been boycotted by the main opposition, amid continuing street protests.
The National Salvation Front (NSF) has said the electoral law favors Mohamed Morsi’s Islamist allies – a claim denied by the president.
The NSF has also expressed concerns that the election will not be free and fair.
Egypt remains sharply divided between Islamists and their liberal and secular opponents.
An Egyptian administrative court has suspended general elections that were scheduled to begin in April
More than 70 people have been killed in violence between security forces and protesters since February, following the second anniversary of the revolution that ousted President Hosni Mubarak.
On Wednesday, the security head in the city of Port Said was dismissed following renewed clashes between demonstrators and police.
The coastal city has seen sporadic violence since January, when death sentences were handed down to 39 people imprisoned over football violence last year which left more than 70 people dead.
The administrative court said it had acted because the Shura Council – the upper house of parliament – had not returned the amended electoral law to the Supreme Court for final review.
Instead, the court said, the Shura Council had sent the law to President Mohamed Morsi for ratification.
Mohamed Morsi’s office has so far made no public comment on the court’s decision. The president can appeal against the ruling.
Egyptian courts have made a number of decisions that have gone against the president and his Muslim Brotherhood movement, further complicating the country’s political crisis.
In June, the lower house was dissolved after the Supreme Constitutional Court ruled that one of the laws under which the elections were fought was not legitimate.
In the last elections, in January 2012, Islamist parties won an overwhelming majority, with the Freedom and Justice Party of the Muslim Brotherhood movement taking the biggest share.
The Egyptian army has deployed tanks and armored troop carriers outside the presidential palace in Cairo after clashes between supporters and rivals of President Mohammed Morsi.
The streets of the capital are now reported to be calm following the earlier violence that left five people dead and hundreds injured.
Egypt is seeing growing unrest over a controversial draft constitution.
The government insists that a referendum will go ahead this month.
The clashes are possibly the most dangerous development in Egypt’s growing political crisis.
The violence, which opposition leaders accused Mohamed Morsi’s Islamist Muslim Brotherhood movement of organizing, was ominously reminiscent of the tactics used by former President Hosni Mubarak during the revolution.
Supporters of Mohamed Morsi responded to a call to rally outside the presidential palace, in the suburb of Heliopolis, on Wednesday afternoon.
The mainly secular opponents of the president were already staging a sit-in protest there, after tens of thousands of them besieged the palace on Tuesday.
Stones and petrol bombs were thrown and there were reports of gunfire as Morsi supporters dismantled some of the tents set up by their opponents.
The Brotherhood later called on all sides to “withdraw at the same time and pledge not to return there given the symbolism of the palace”.
Disorder was also reported in other cities, with Muslim Brotherhood offices attacked in Ismailia and Suez.
The Egyptian army has deployed tanks and armored troop carriers outside the presidential palace in Cairo after clashes between supporters and rivals of President Mohammed Morsi
In a joint news conference, Mohamed ElBaradei, Amr Moussa and other leading figures of the opposition National Rescue Front said they held Mohamed Morsi fully responsible for the violence.
“Our opinion was, and still is, that we are ready for dialogue if the constitutional decree is cancelled … and the referendum on this constitution is postponed,” said Mohamed ElBaradei.
“The revolution did not happen for this. It happened for freedom, democracy and human dignity.
“Morsi must listen to the people, whose voice is loud and clear. There is no legitimacy in excluding the majority of the people,” he said.
Speaking on Wednesday, Vice-President Mahmoud Mekki said the vote on the draft constitution was still scheduled for 15 December, but that the “door for dialogue” remained open, indicating that changes could be made to the document later.
Critics say the draft was rushed through parliament without proper consultation and that it does not do enough to protect political and religious freedoms and the rights of women.
The draft added to the anger generated by Mohamed Morsi passing a decree in late November which granted him wide-ranging new powers.
Four of Mohamed Morsi’s advisers resigned on Wednesday in an apparent protest. Three others did so last week and Egypt’s Mena news agency reported a further resignation on Thursday.
In his news conference, broadcast earlier on state television, Mahmoud Mekki said there was “real political will to pass the current period and respond to the demands of the public”.
But he said there “must be consensus” on the constitution, and that “the door for dialogue is open for those who object to the draft”.
“I am completely confident that if not in the coming hours, in the next few days we will reach a breakthrough in the crisis and consensus,” he said.
The government has been speaking for some time about the need for dialogue, but has offered few concrete concessions which would end the crisis.
Mohamed Morsi adopted sweeping new powers in a decree on 22 November, and stripped the judiciary of any power to challenge his decisions.
Mohamed Morsi, who narrowly won Egypt’s first free presidential election in June, says he will give up his new powers once the new constitution is ratified.
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Rival protesters in Egypt have clashed outside the presidential palace in Cairo, as unrest grows over a controversial draft constitution.
Petrol bombs were thrown and a number of people were injured, amid reports of shots being fired.
Supporters of President Mohamed Morsi dismantled tents set up outside the presidential palace by Morsi critics.
Vice-President Mahmoud Mekki has said a referendum on the draft will go ahead on 15 December despite the unrest.
But he indicated that changes could be made after the vote, saying the “door for dialogue” remained open.
He urged critics of the draft document to put their concerns in writing for future discussion.
Critics say the draft was rushed through parliament without proper consultation and that it does not do enough to protect political and religious freedoms and the rights of women.
The draft added to the anger generated by Mohamed Morsi passing a decree in late November which granted him wide-ranging new powers.
On Wednesday afternoon, supporters of Mohamed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood movement rallied outside the presidential palace, where the mainly secular opponents of the president were already staging a protest.
The pro-Morsi group chanted “The people want to cleanse the square” and “Morsi has legitimacy”, AFP news agency reported.
Stones and petrol bombs were thrown, before the Morsi supporters dismantled some of the tents set up by their opponents.
There were also reports of gunfire. Witnesses reported seeing a number of wounded people.
AFP said the anti-Morsi group had fled the area.
In a joint news conference, Mohamed ElBaradei, Amr Moussa and other leading opposition figures said they held Mohamed Morsi fully responsible for the violence.
Mohamed ElBaradei said they were “ready for dialogue, however we are ready to go to the streets”.
In a news conference broadcast earlier on state television, Mahmoud Mekki said there was “real political will to pass the current period and respond to the demands of the public”.
But he said there “must be consensus” on the constitution, and that “the door for dialogue is open for those who object to the draft”.
“I am completely confident that if not in the coming hours, in the next few days we will reach a breakthrough in the crisis and consensus,” he said.
He proposed that the opposition put their concerns about particular parts of the constitution into writing, but that this was “not a formal initiative but a personal idea”.
There are mixed messages coming from the government.
It has spoken about the need for dialogue for some time but has offered few concrete concessions which would end the crisis, he adds.
On Tuesday, tens of thousands of anti-Morsi demonstrators besieged the palace, clashing with police who fired tear gas.
Eighteen people were slightly injured in the brief burst of violence, the official Mena news agency reported.
At one point, the security forces issued a televised statement saying President Mohamed Morsi had left the building.
Many of those gathered outside the palace, in the suburb of Heliopolis, chanted slogans similar to those directed against the regime of former President Hosni Mubarak during the uprising in February 2011.
President Mohamed Morsi adopted sweeping new powers in a decree on November 22nd, and stripped the judiciary of any power to challenge his decisions.
Mohamed Morsi, who narrowly won Egypt’s first free presidential election in June, says he will give up his new powers once a new constitution is ratified.
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