Egyptian former presidential candidate Amr Moussa has been appointed head of the constitution-drafting committee, it was announced on Sunday.
The 50-member panel tasked with amending Egypt’s previous constitution has convened for the first time at the headquarters of the Shura council (upper house of parliament), Ahram Online reported.
Chairman of the Syndicate of Lawyers and the Arab Nasserist party, Sameh Ashour was also in the running to stand for the post of chairman, Ahram reported.
The panel has two months 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.
Work by the constitution-drafting body is at its second stage following initial proposals made by a 10-member legal panel.
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.
Islamist figures from the Salafist Al-Nour party, as well as representatives from Al-Azhar, the highest Sunni Islamic authority in Egypt, and Christian representatives are present on the panel.
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