The Supreme Council of Armed forces said on Saturday that the process of writing the constitution should finish before the run-offs of the presidential elections, and specified the numbers of non-Parliament members that will participate in writing it.
During the meeting, SCAF and political leaders also agreed on forming a constituent assembly supervisory committee comprised of representatives from the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party, the Salafi Nour Party, the Wafd Party, the revolutionary Block Party and Tomorrow Revolution Party and other independent politicians, among them Mostafa Bakri and Marianne Malak.
In six points, published on the state-run Al-Ahram website, SCAF also announced how the Constiuent Assembly, which will draft the country's new constitution, will re-vote if they do not reach a consensus on the first time.
The military council said that during the meeting with representatives from 20 political parties and some Parliament members, all parties had agreed on ratios of representation that comply with the Administrative Court’s ruling on the representative ratios from the Parliament and Shura Council.
In reference to the constituent members that will represent political bodies and other organizations, according to the SCAF announcment there will be four from Al-Azhar, six from Egyptian Churches, including Orthodox, Catholic and Evangelical. There will also be ten legal or constitutional scholars in the assembly, two farmer representatives, two labor representatives, in addition to general representatives for the interests of women, students, and those with special needs.
In the case that the constituent assembly cannot reach a consensus of two-thirds of the assembly (67 members) in voting on the new constiution, then the assembly will re-convene within 24 hours to vote, with a lowered consensus of 57 percent.
According to the points, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi will call a joint session of the Shura Council and People’s Assembly to elect the members of the assembly.
Ayman Nour, the leader of the Revolution Tomorrow Party, confirmed that the decisions had been made concerning the members from outside the Parliament, and said that each party has the right to choose its representatives on the committee from within or outside the Parliament.
The country's Constituent Assembly, which last met in early April, has been gridlocked after various political parties withdrew from its formation, saying it was unfairly dominated by Islamist political groups.
Edited translation from Al-Ahram and Al-Masry Al-Youm
