Egypt’s parliament and senate voted on Saturday for a panel tasked with drafting the country’s new constitution to include 50 percent lawmakers from the Islamist-dominated parliament. In a joint session, both houses of parliament were discussing the criteria for choosing the members of the 100-strong constituent assembly that will write a new charter. The constitution will replace the one suspended by the ruling generals when they assumed power following an uprising that overthrew president Hosni Mubarak a year ago. “The constituent assembly will consist of 50 percent from within parliament, and 50 percent outside parliament, and will include civil society groups and public figures,” lower house speaker Saad al-Katatni told lawmakers, in a session aired live on state television. Islamists, who won a majority in both houses, were believed to want to dominate the panel, which had placed them at odds with the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) and liberals. The military, which has suggested it would like the new constitution to give it privileges after it hands the reins of government to an elected president this year, had promised to allow parliament to appoint the panel. But both the SCAF and liberals were eager to ensure that the panel is not dominated by any one group. The two houses of parliament will meet once again on March 24 to choose the members of the panel.
