President Mohamed Morsy appointed 90 members to the Shura Council, the upper house of parliament, Presidential Spokesperson Yasser Ali announced on his official Facebook page on Saturday. The appointments include senior Muslim Brotherhood leaders such as Essam al-Erian and Sobhy Saleh and military figures such as Adel Morsy, the former head of the Military Judiciary Authority. According to Ali, the 90 appointees include members of 17 parties, 12 of which did not have any representation in the dissolved People's Assembly. Appointees also include constitutional experts, eight women, 12 Copts, eight members of Egyptian churches, five members of Al-Azhar and two of the wounded of the revolution. "In continuation of the national dialogue which the president is hosting, and which agenda includes important issues, and in the context of the efforts deployed during the fourth round of this dialogue whereby the selection criteria of Shura Council appointees were discussed, the president issued a decree appointing 90 members to the Shura Council, in accordance with the law," Ali wrote. He added that the appointees represent the diversity of the Egyptian society, with civil society representatives, trade unionists, academics, legal experts, athletes, Sinai and Matrouh tribesmen and Sufi figures. If the current constitutional draft passes the referendum, the second phase of which will be held on Saturday, the Shura Council will be handed legislative powers until a new parliament is elected. The lower house of parliament was dissolved earlier by a court ruling, when the Supreme Constitutional Court found that the law governing the house's elections unconstitutional. With the appointments, the Shura Council will be composed of 279 members, a third of whom are appointed by the president.
