Tempers are flaring in Cairo, where the country's constitutional court has cleared former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq to contest this weekend's presidential run-off election.

Crowds gathered outside the courthouse chanting, demanding the “fall of military regime.”

Shafiq placed second to the Muslim Brotherhood's candidate, Mohamed Morsi, in the first round of voting in late May. But many people aligned with the Islamist group had argued that Shafiq's ties to former president Hosni Mubarak should preclude him from running.

The ruling now sets the stage for the runoff election between Morsi and Shafiq, set for Saturday and Sunday.

Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court was deliberating over a law passed by the country's parliament in April that denied political rights to many of those who held senior posts in the government or ruling party under Mubarak.

The court did rule in favor of part of the law, disqualifying one-third of lawmakers from parliament.