By CCTV's correspondent Adel EL Mahrouky

BEIJING, Sept. 3 (Xinhuanet) -- Egypt's interim government has unveiled the committee that will rewrite the country’s constitution. It has 50 members, representing various sections of society. But many Islamic groups have been excluded.

A year ago, Islamists dominated the process of creating a new constitution. They had representation on the committee of 80 percent. But now Morsi has been ousted, his supporters sidelined. And for the new constitution, Islamists have far less say - Just 10 percent representation.

The new committee includes representatives from the youth group that forced Morsi's ouster. Those seeking his reinstatement are excluded.

The interim government insists the committee is representative.

"The presidency was keen that the representation would be comprehensive and inclusive. There are representatives to all spectrum of the Egyptian people. I think it is very difficult for someone to find himself not represented," spokesman for Egyptian presidency Ehab Badawy said.

Some observers agree. "I don’t think the absence the Muslim Brotherhood will affect the committee, particularly that one of the members was a former leader of the brotherhood, so their ideology is represented, and the Islamic Salafi Nour party is there as well," said Asaad Heikal from Freedom Commitee of Lawyers Syndicate.

But there's been mixed reaction among ordinary people.

"I don’t have any thing against the members of the committee, I think it is diversified, all what matters now is the new draft they will form," said Solaiman Mahmoud from Cairo.

"The committee is a lie like all this political transition, it is part of the military coup. Our first committee was elected, it represented the people, this one is appointed. I will never recognize it," said Mohamed Abdel Azeem from Giza.

This is the second phase of the process. A panel of 10 experts has already drawn up extensive amendments - removing many Islamic-influenced articles. But the panel's draft effectively shields the military from civilian oversight.

Many members of the new committee have reservations about the panel's amendments. And may choose to ignore them, and draft an entirely new constitution. The committee has sixty days from September 8th to submit a final draft and that’s due to be put to a referendum by early December.

(Source: cntv.cn)