Former liberal-leaning presidential candidate Amr Moussa has been elected ٍas head of Egypt’s 50-strong constitution-drafting committee.
Both Moussa – a former foreign minister – and chairman of the Syndicate of Lawyers and the Arab Nasserist Party Sameh Ashour announced they would stand for the post of chairman.
Moussa won 30 votes, compared to Ashour’s 16, whilst 2 members abstained and 2 were absent.
The panel, led by Abdel Gelil Mostafa – head of the National Association for Change – as the oldest member, convened its first session on Sunday at the headquarters of Egypt’s Shura council (upper house of parliament).
Pursuant to a presidential decree, issued by Egypt’s interim President Adly Mansour on 8 July, the charter is due to be approved within “sixty days” of the board’s first session.
Work by this constitutional-drafting board represents the second stage in writing Egypt’s new constitution, which is to replace the suspended 2012 version. This follows initial proposals made by a ten-member legal panel, which have already proved contentious.