A month and a half ago, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) instructed the government to draw up the principles for selecting the panel that will formulate the constitution, and release these principles as a constitutional declaration after political powers have approved them, Mamdouh Shaheen, assistant defense minister and a SCAF member, has said.
The constitutional declaration will be released soon, he said.
The date for receiving nominations for parliamentary candidates has yet to be set, but will be announced officially at the appropriate time, Shaheen said, adding that parliamentary elections will be held over three stages as stated in the new law.
Islamist groups have opposed the SCAF's aim to prepare a constitutional declaration that determines the way the constituent assembly that will draft the constitution will be selected. According to them, such a declaration would infringe on voters' choice to entrust the parliament – in which Islamists believe they will have a strong presence – with the creation of the constituent assembly.
