CAIRO - Members of a controversial panel tasked with drafting Egypt's new constitution on Wednesday elected Muslim Brotherhood member Saad el-Katatni - currently the speaker of parliament - to head the committee. The appointment comes following a series of withdrawals from the constituent assembly by liberal, leftist and independent figures who accuse Islamists of monopolising the process that will deliver the post-revolution charter. Writing the constitution requires "wisdom and political responsibility, away from partisan gains," Katatni told the constituent assembly tasked with drafting the new constitution, in a session aired live on television. His election comes hours after Egypt's Supreme Constitutional court announced it was withdrawing its representative, Ali Awad Saleh, from the constituent assembly, casting further doubt over its legitimacy. Since the formation of the 100-member constituent assembly on Sunday, nearly two dozen high profile figures have pulled out, while a court is set to rule on the panel's validity on April 10. Meanwhile, a figure leader of the majority Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party denied the "monopolising" allegations. "The FJP win only 30 per cent of the Constituent Assembly," Hussein Ibrahim, the head of FJP's bloc in the Lower House of the Parliament, said.
