CAIRO: The Cairo Court for Urgent Cases ruled for overturning the Administrative Court decision to ban the exportation of Egyptian natural gas Tuesday.
The court had responded to a motion filed on behalf of the Prime Minister and Ministers of Petroleum and Finance. The court had issued their ruling under the pretext that the export of gas fell solely under the jurisdiction of the state and neither the courts nor the State Council could rule on it.
The Appeals Circuit of the Supreme Administrative Court will also issue a ruling on the case April 6 which is to be considered the final verdict on the matter.
The popular campaign to prevent the export of Egyptian gas had filed an appeal to rescind the ruling of the Supreme Administrative Court that the government could continue exports of natural gas to Israel and other countries.
The campaign is attempting to put a stop to the export of Egyptian gas because the prices agreed in the contracts are lower than market prices for natural gas.
Spokesman for the campaign Abdallah Helmy told Daily News Egypt, “The campaign will not stop. We are appealing to the law because we believe in the judicial process, but the campaign extends beyond that.
The Supreme Administrative Court had ruled in February that gas exports could continue, while the Cairo Administrative Court had ruled that the government should stop exporting the gas last November because parliament had not been consulted.
The court had ruled that “national resources belong to current and future generations, and the executive must first get parliament s approval.
However as the government appealed, the gas continued to flow through the intermediary company, Eastern Mediterranean Gas (EMG), which directly pumps the gas to Israel.
