An Egyptian court yesterday suspended the Islamist-dominated commission tasked with drafting a new constitution amid a boycott by liberals, moderate Muslims and the Coptic church.

The administrative court in Cairo said it was “suspending the constituent assembly” without explaining the reasons, but lawyers and liberal political parties had filed a complaint accusing the Islamist-majority parliament, which formed the panel, of having abused its powers.

The decision comes amid a tense stand-off between Islamist and secular forces just six weeks ahead of the country’s first post-revolution presidential elections.

Mohammed Nur Farhat, a lawyer and official of the liberal Social Democratic Party, said the “constitutional commission has been made null and void by this judicial decision and may not continue its work.

“Parliament must meet to reform the constitutional commission, and we invite it to begin setting out the criteria that will guarantee an equitable representation of social and political forces, so that it is not dominated by a single political current,” he added.