Mr Morsi issued an executive order on Sunday reinstating the lower house of parliament, which the SCAF had disbanded after the Supreme Court ruled that provisions of the electoral law were unconstitutional. His call to reinstate the legislature reverses the SCAF’s order to dissolve it, but does not overturn the court’s ruling. He wants MPs to meet until a new constitution is ratified, after which new elections would be held.

The announcement surprised many of Egypt’s key political players. SCAF, the Supreme Court, and a host of political parties hastily convened late-night emergency meetings. Opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei tweeted that the decision to overrule the court was “turning Egypt from a government of law into a government of men.”

On Monday, Egyptians were hit by a flurry of mixed signals. At a military academy graduation, there was little obvious tension between Mr Morsi and Field Marshal Tantawi, the SCAF’s chief, where state television showed them sitting beside each other chatting casually.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court defended its ruling on the constitutionality of the electoral law, declaring the decision “final and binding”. That could set the stage for a showdown.

Outside the parliament, fewer policemen were standing guard than in recent weeks, when rows of riot police have barred politicians from the building.  One or two MPs went in on Monday, according to a police commander, who said the rest would be allowed to enter “as normal” on Tuesday, when the speaker has instructed them to show up for work. The Muslim Brotherhood, which holds about half the seats in parliament, has also called for a million-man march Tuesday to support their return.

The SCAF’s dissolution of parliament, two days before the June presidential election, cast a shadow over the vote and raised fears of a tacit alliance between the military and long-independent judiciary, both of which date to the Mubarak era. As polls closed on election day, the military stripped the presidency of many of its powers, assuming a veto over the constitution, to the ire of Islamists and relief of some liberals who feared an overly religious document. By reinstating parliament, Mr. Morsi is attempting to regain some of the powers lost during this two-pronged “soft coup”.

“This will go down in history as the first serious step towards democratic transition in Egypt,” according to Omar Ashour, a politics professor at Exeter University and fellow at the Brookings Institute in Doha. “The ultimate test of a democratic transition is whether civilians are in charge of the armed forces.”