Egypt's ruling military council pushed ahead Sunday with plans to begin drafting a new constitution before transferring power to civilian rule, announcing that parliament will meet this week to select the panel tasked with writing the document. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces' statement that parliament will begin choosing the 100-member panel March 3 marked a setback for activist groups who have demanded the military relinquish power before a constitution is written. They fear that if the army is in power when the document is drawn up, the ruling generals will manipulate the process to ensure the military keeps its pre-eminent position and remains above civilian oversight. The tussle is also tied to the broader struggle over the religious identity of the new constitution. The committee of 100 legal experts, academics, politicians and professionals that will be selected to draft the document will be at the center of the debate about the role of Islam in the constitution. The current constitution says that the state religion is Islam and the principle of Islamic Sharia law is the main source of legislation. However, some ultraconservative Muslims have called for the article to be changed to read that Islamic law is the only source of legislation — a proposal opposed by liberals and moderate Islamists. The makeup of the panel has also been a contentious point, with secular-leaning groups and Christians fearing the Islamist-dominated parliament may pack the board with conservative thinkers. But the head of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, which controls nearly half the seats in the lower house of parliament, sought to ease those fears Saturday, saying 60 members of the panel should include women, Christian scholars, experts from the country's premier Islamic institution and civil society leaders. Mohammed Morsi, in a statement on the party's website, said the remaining 40 panel members should be lawmakers. The timing of when to draft the constitution has also become one of the country's most intense debates. Nobel laureate Mohamed ElBaradei has said he supports drafting a constitution before holding presidential elections in order to set the rules and outline the duties of the executive office.
