Egypt’s constitutional panel has finally been named today, with the 100 members’ names published by the state news agency. The list, much like the parliament, shows a strong Islamist majority.
This should be unsurprising, as the panel was selected by parliament (a surprise since the junta initially said it would appoint them outright, but later backed off). The list had 60 Islamists, including 37 MPs. The US-backed liberal factions were mostly given smaller representation.
The large number of Islamists will make the battle over distribution of power all the more interesting. With such a strong presence in parliament, they will likely support a mostly parliamentary system. The largest party, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), has not made a serious attempt to secure the presidency either, and may look to weaken its powers as much as possible.
The Islamist factions have also had a rocky relationship with the current junta, and may look to weaken the military’s autonomy in the new constitution. The junta has insisted that it would allow the constitution to review its power on occasion, but other times has insisted that they would remain in all ways autonomous under the new civilian government.
