Egypt names 50-member constitution panel with few Islamists

A 50-member panel has been announced to draw up a revised constitution in Egypt, the country’s interim president Adly Mansour said on Sunday.

The panel is made up of mostly secular figures, with the Muslim Brotherhood refusing to take part as they argue that Egypt's new authorities were illegitimate since the army ousted former Islamist President Mohammad Mursi on July 3.

Mansour's spokesman Ehab al-Badaoui read out the 50 names of the new panel at a press conference in Cairo.

Islamist groups will still be represented in the panel with the participation of the Salafist al-Nour party, which has supported Mursi’s ouster.

Representatives from al-Azhar, the highest authority in Sunni Islam, and Christian churches are also present on the panel.

The new panel has 60 days to submit a final version of the revised constitution to the interim president, who in turn has 30 days to announce the date of a referendum, AFP news agency reports.

The new draft comes after a disputed constitution drawn up under Mursi, which was approved in a December 2012 referendum.

(With AFP news agency)