CAIRO, March 26 (UPI) -- A spokesman for Egypt's Islamist Freedom and Justice Party said all political parties had agreed to replace eight Constituent Assembly members if they resign.
The eight members of the assembly had threatened Sunday to resign over what they say is unfair representation of Islamists in the body, Ahram Online reported.
The assembly's 50 parliamentarians include 36 Islamists -- 25 from the Muslim Brotherhood's FJP and 11 from the Salafist El-Nour Party.
More than 25 of the 50 non-parliamentarians in the assembly also are Islamists.
Under assembly rules, if a member resigns, the member is replaced by one from a list of 20 alternates, and 10 FJP members top that list.
Liberal parties including the Egyptian Social Democratic Party, the Free Egyptians Party and the Wafd Party have urged their leadership to boycott the assembly because of the number of Islamists holding seats. All three of those parties have members in the assembly.
The first meeting of the assembly is set for Wednesday. A chairman and two deputies will be elected and the assembly will be divided into committees to draft chapters of the constitution.
