A protestor stands on a barricade of barbed wire as Egyptian military police stand guard. Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court ruled that the Islamist-led parliament must be immediately dissolved.
An Egyptian boy waves his shoes as he joins supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood in a protest in Cairo's Tahrir Square against Mubarak-era prime minister and presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq after Egypt's top court rejected on Thursday a law barring him from standing in a tense presidential poll runoff.
Protestors gesture towards military police through a barricade of barbed wire during a protest against presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq outside the Supreme Constitutional Court on Thursday.
People walk past graffiti showing faces of ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, right; Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, second right; former Secretary General of the Arab League Amr Mussa, second left, and former prime minister and presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq, left, at Tahrir square.
A boy peers through barbed wire at Egyptian military police standing guard outside the Constitutional Court in Cairo on Thursday, June 14.
Presidential candidate Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, who is set for a runoff election against Ahmed Shafiq, speaks at a press conference in Cairo on Wednesday, June 13.
Former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq, center, is seated before addressing a business conference in Cairo on Wednesday.
Egyptians read the front page of newspapers for sale outside of Al-Fatah Mosque in Cairo on Friday, May 25.
Ballots are counted by election officials in Alexandria as the country eagerly awaits the outcome Friday.
A supporter of presidential candidate Abdelmonen Abol Fotoh voices her opinions at Tahrir Square on Friday.
Supporters of various candidates debate outside Al-Fatah Mosque in Cairo on Friday.
Electoral officials monitor voting in Namul, a village north of Cairo, on Thursday, May 24, the second and final day of voting in Egypt's historic presidential election. Egypt is holding its first presidential election since last year's toppling of Hosni Mubarak, part of the wave of Arab Spring uprisings.
Egyptian women wait in line Thursday to cast their vote outside a polling station in Cairo. If no candidate gets a majority of the vote in the first round of voting, a second round will be held June 16-17.
An election worker checks the identification of a voter at a polling place Thursday in Namul as Egyptian soldiers stand guard.
A soldier stands watch in the Egyptian capital on the second day of voting. A pervasive fear exists that the powerful military, which has run the country since Mubarak's fall 16 months ago, could try to hijack the election.
An Egyptian man waits to cast his ballot Thursday north of Cairo. The vote is considered Egypt's first free and fair presidential election in modern history.
An Egyptian man drops off his ballot at a polling station Thursday in Cairo. The voting marks the first time Egypt has held a presidential election in which the results aren't known beforehand.
An Egyptian woman holds up an ink-stained finger after casting her ballot in Cairo on Wednesday, May 23, the first day of voting in the historic election.
A voter studies her ballot Wednesday in Cairo. Thirteen candidates are competing in the wide-open race, but two withdrew after ballots were printed.
Egyptian men fill out their ballots Wednesday in Cairo. Results of the first round of voting are not expected before the weekend.
An Egyptian man casts his ballot at a Cairo polling station. Some Egyptians told CNN that they waited up to four hours Wednesday to vote.
Egyptian men shield themselves from the hot sun outside a Cairo polling station Wednesday.
Egyptian men line up to cast their vote Wednesday in Cairo. Some 30,000 volunteers fanned out to ensure voting is fair, said organizers with the April 6 youth movement, which has campaigned for greater democracy in Egypt.
Egyptian men fill out their ballots at a Cairo polling place.
Presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabahy, a leftist dark-horse contender, flashes a sign of victory as he waits to vote at a Cairo school.
Presidential candidate Abdelmonen Abol Fotoh, a moderate Islamist, casts his ballot Wednesday in Cairo.
An Egyptian Coptic nun drops her ballot at a Cairo polling station Wednesday.
Egyptian women wait outside a polling station in Cairo. Many Egyptians seem uncertain of their loyalties to any particular candidate.
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- Voting will begin Saturday, despite the potential for chaos after parliament was dissolved
- Former Mubarak official faces Muslim Brotherhood candidate
- It's not clear what authority the country's new president will have
- Egypt doesn't have a permanent constitution
(CNN) -- Egypt's presidential runoff begins Saturday, even as the country teeters on the edge of renewed chaos after a court ruling that dissolved the country's parliament and raised questions about whether the country's military will relinquish power.
Former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik and Muslim Brotherhood-backed candidate Mohamed Morsi emerged from the first round of voting in late May to advance to the runoff, in which Egyptian voters will choose the country's first democratically elected president.
But that historic milestone has been overshadowed by rising concern about Thursday's Supreme Constitutional Court ruling dissolving parliament.
The court decreed that the rules governing the recent parliamentary elections were invalid. It tossed out a popularly elected parliament in which about half the seats were controlled by Islamists.
Analysts: 'Soft coup' court ruling could reignite Egyptian revolution
The court also invalidated a law that would have barred Shafik from running based on his affiliation with former President Hosni Mubarak, who stepped down after weeks of street protests in Egypt.
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It's unclear what authority the new president will hold. Egypt has no constitution to guide the government or clearly define the president's authority.
But the winner of the runoff election could be in a powerful position to deal directly with Egypt's military rulers, who are said to be planning to issue an interim constitution while a new permanent document is written and a new parliament elected.
That could prove especially true if Shafik, a former air force general, wins the runoff, analysts say.
Egyptian reform leader Mohamed ElBaradei, who himself had considered a presidential run, took to the social networking service Twitter on Thursday to call on the government to postpone the election.
"Electing president in the absence of constitution and parliament is electing an 'emperor' with more powers than deposed dictator. A travesty," he wrote.
Activists call for protests on eve of Egypt's presidential runoff
The court decisions raised the talk of more street protests amid concerns that Egypt's ruling military council is consolidating power and does not intend to hand over authority to a popularly elected civilian government, as it has said it will do.
Still, preparations for the election were going ahead.
About 50 million polling cards have been distributed to polling places, according to a statement from Hatem Begato, the secretary general of the Higher Presidential Elections Commissions.
Egyptians living outside the country finished voting on June 9, according to the commission. Shafik led among Egyptians voting in Lebanon, Tunisia, Greece, Austria and Sierra Leone, according to the commission.
Morsi was leading among expatriates voting from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Jordan, Ethiopia, Yemen, Germany, Russia, Algeria and Sudan, the group said last week.
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