Egyptian politicians agree to elect panel to draft new constitution

PanARMENIAN.Net - Both houses of the parliament of Egypt will consider setting up a commission to form the country’s new constitution on June 12 ahead of the presidential runoff later in the month, Sayed Badawi, the leader of the liberal Wafd Party, said, according to RIA Novosti.

Egypt’s previous constitution was declared invalid after the popular uprising in early 2011. It was decided later by temporary authorities in the country that the new constitution must be worked out and adopted by both houses of the parliament.

Mohamed El Baradei, one of Egypt's leading opposition figures and ex-head of the IAEA, said earlier in the week that Egypt should at first draw a new constitution before voting on a new president.

The country is set to hold the second and final round of the presidential election on June 16-17.

The Muslim Brotherhood's candidate for the Egyptian presidential election Mohammed Morsi and Ahmed Shafiq, who was the last prime minister under former President Hosni Mubarak, won most of the votes in the first round of Egypt’s presidential elections on May 23-24 and will face each other in the runoff.

Former President of Egypt Hosni Mubarak was overthrown in February 2011 after an 18-day popular uprising. Over 800 people were killed during the revolution, many of them shot dead by security forces. Last week the Cairo Criminal Court ruled to sentence Mubarak, 84, to life imprisonment.