Egypt’s head of parliament vows nonpartisanship in drafting of new constitution
Islamists will make up half of constitutional panel per agreement between military leaders and 22 political parties
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CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s head of parliament says that no political group will be able to force its opinion on a 100-member panel that will be selected Tuesday to write the country’s new constitution.
Saad El-Katatni, who is also a member of parliament’s most powerful party, the Muslim Brotherhood, spoke to reporters Saturday. He appeared to be trying to reassure liberals who walked out during the first attempt at creating the panel.
The Islamist-dominated parliament had initially heavily packed the panel with Brotherhood members and ultraconservative lawmakers.
But a breakthrough came this week when the country’s ruling military generals and 22 political parties agreed that Islamists will only take half of the panel’s seats and that the rest would go to legal experts and representatives of unions, ministries and the Coptic Church.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
The Times of Israel Community.