The military coup carried out by the ruling military junta before the run-off of the Egyptian presidential election is a serious threat to the Egyptian revolution and to the working class.

It has exposed the “democratic transition” promoted by the junta as a fraud. With the support of its imperialist allies in the US and Europe, the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) has eliminated all the institutions it initially created to give the illusion of a transition to democracy.

After the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) found the parliamentary electoral law unconstitutional on Thursday, SCAF dissolved the Islamist-dominated parliament. The junta tightened security in Cairo, and police and military forces took over the parliament on Friday, barring MPs from entering the building.

The junta also announced it would dissolve the constituent assembly elected by the parliament on Tuesday. It plans to issue a constitutional declaration, unilaterally determining the composition of the new assembly and outlining the powers of the new president.

Under these conditions, the run-off between Ahmed Shafiq, the last prime minister under Mubarak, and Mohammed Mursi, the candidate of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, is a travesty.