The military will continue its “national and historic responsibility, taking into account that the state of emergency has ended, in accordance with the constitutional declaration and with the law,” it said, AFP reported.

Egypt has been under a continuous state of emergency since 1981. An end to the state of emergency was a longstanding demand of the Egyptian opposition and a primary demand of protesters during Egypt’s January 2011 uprising.

International human rights mechanisms have also repeatedly condemned the Emergency Law.

 On May 17 the human rights committee of the People’s Assembly called for ending the state of emergency by May 31, not allowing any further extension, and ending the administrative detention and security court trials authorized under the law. In a news conference on May 29, the presidential candidate and Freedom and Justice party member Mohamed Morsy said: “There is no going back to the state of emergency, we do not need the state of emergency… the existing laws are sufficient.”

Egypt’s state of emergency was last renewed by Mubarak, for two years, in May 2010, nine months before he was ousted from the presidency. On January 24, 2012, Egypt’s military ruler, Field Marshall Hussein Tantawy, issued a decree limiting the application of the Emergency Law to cases of “thuggery,” mirroring Mubarak’s meaningless claim in May 2010 to limit application of the Emergency Law to terrorism and drug-related crimes.