Egypt's military rulers urge formation of constituent assembly

Head of Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces Hussein Tantawi called on the parliament to elect constituent assembly members next Tuesday, state TV reported on Thursday.

The ruling military council, 22 political parties and several independent lawmakers agreed on the criteria to form the constituent assembly after a seven-hour meeting on Thursday.

The People's Assembly (lower house) elected a 100-member Islamists-dominated constituent assembly in March, which was suspended in accordance to a decision by the administrative court after it had been rejected by liberal and secular parties.

Osamah Yassin, representative of the Muslim Brotherhood, said six seats would go to judges, with nine allocated to experts in law, five to Al Azhar, the foremost Sunni Muslim authority in Egypt, and four for Christian churches in Egypt.

Besides, professional unions will get 13 seats while 39 seats will be allocated to political parties, 21 to public figures and three to executive authorities including army, police, and the government.

Head of the Wafd Party Sayed Badawy said the constituent assembly will include 100 members representing specialists in law, religious institutions, public figures, youth, women and the Coptics.

He added that any future decision by the assembly should be agreed by 67 percent of the body, or another voting will be held 48 hours later and 57 members will decide.

Representatives of al-Wasat party and Ghad Party did not attend the meeting.

On Tuesday, Tantawi called for consensus over criteria of the constituent assembly within two days, or a supplementary constitutional declaration will be announced.