Egyptian Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi has proposed the legal dissolution of the Muslim Brotherhood and the government is studying the idea, a government spokesman has said.

The proposal came after Friday’s security crackdown on anti-coup demonstrators protesting across the country against the army's removal of President Mohamed Morsi in early July. According to health ministry, 173 people died in violence during the day.

Morsi belonged to the Muslim Brotherhood movement and was Egypt's first democratically elected president.

Beblawi made the proposal to the ministry of social affairs, the ministry responsible for licensing non-governmental organisations, government spokesman Sherif Shawky said, according to Reuters news agency. "It is being studied currently," he added.

The Muslim Brotherhood was dissolved by Egypt's military rulers in 1954, but registered itself as a non-governmental organisation in March in a response to a court case brought by opponents of the group who were contesting its legality.

The Brotherhood, founded in 1928, also has a legally registered political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party, which was set up in 2011 after the uprising that led to the downfall of veteran autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

Al Jazeera