CAIRO - The formation of a constituent assembly to hammer out Egypt's new constitution has been subject to controversy for months in terms of the members' capacity to shoulder the responsibility. The major point of difference, however, has been about parliamentary representation and whether the elected deputies should be part of the process. The Freedom and Justice Party (the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood) thought that 40 of the 100 assembly members should be appointed from within Parliament and 60 from without, while other voices suggested different combinations. Liberally oriented powers were generally in favour of a wider civil society representation. As usual, the Muslim Brotherhood changed its mind in the last minute and suggested a 50-50 representation from within and without the Parliament, just prior to the secret vote in a joint session of the Lower and Upper Houses. It was quite natural that the Islamist-dominated Parliament voted for the Brotherhood's proposal with a sweeping majority. But that was not the group's first manoeuvre. It had made a similar approach before the parliamentary elections when it declared that it would only target about 30 to 40 per cent of the seats. But when the actual race started the MB contested 100 per cent. Nevertheless, while it is rather unusual for a parliament to take part in writing the constitution, which will determine the balance of power between the legislative and executive authority represented by president and government, the drafting of the constitution has to be undertaken according to democratic rules. The constituent assembly also needs to consider the possibility that future free and fair elections could bring a non-Islamic majority into Parliament. The constitution has to encompass all Egyptians, regardless of their political inclinations, religious creeds or ethic background.
