Egypt plans to set up constitution panel again

Islamists control around 70 percent of parliament.

We have invited the elected parliament members to a joint meeting at 11 am on Tuesday8230;to elect a 100-member assembly to prepare a new constitution for the state, Parliamentary speaker Saad al-Katatni said.

All the political parties and powers have agreed that a full balance and representation of all powers and interests will be taken into consideration while forming the assembly, he added.

Katatni,who heads the parliamentary committee in-charge of choosing the assembly8217;s members and belongs to the Muslim Brotherhood8217;s Freedom and Justice Party,the biggest parliamentary party,had asked public institutes,courts,syndicates and religious bodies on Friday for their nominations for the new assembly.

The new constitution is expected to define the president8217;s powers and citizen rights. The delay in picking the panel has left Egypt in a constitutional vacuum a week before the final stage of the presidential vote on June 16-17.

The military council that took over after Mubarak was toppled last year has promised to hand over to a newly elected president by July 1,but it is unclear what authority the new head of state will have.

The military council on Tuesday gave political parties a 48-hour deadline to agree on the make-up of the new constitution-drafting assembly.