Amr Darrag, secretary-general of the Constituent Assembly affirmed that all the committees have finished reviewing proposals and that by the end of the week the constitution would be drafted, in a statement on Tuesday to IkhwanWeb, the official Muslim Brotherhood website.

Suggestions will be referred to the Drafting Committee this weekend to then be submitted to a general Constituent Assembly meeting for final selection, Darrag added.

The secretary-general explained that the committees took into account all suggestions and complaints submitted to the assembly - which is tasked with drafting Egypt's new constitution - through its official internet website. He asserted that the committees' findings will be discussed in an unbiased manner. "The new constitution will certainly be for all Egyptian society."

The rapporteur for the System of Governance Committee (SGC) Mohamed Mohieldin revealed on Tuesday that the Constituent Assembly will vote in a special plenary session on whether to keep or abolish the Shura Council (upper house of parliament).

"If the assembly decides to keep the Shura Council in the constitution, the SGC will then prepare the appropriate constitutional framework for it," he followed up.

Mohieldin stated the case for the conflicting opinions within the SGC regarding the Shura Council.

One group argues that the consultative body should be abolished because it has no real powers yet requires a huge, burdensome budget, rendering it superfluous.

On the other hand, others argue that it should remain and share legislative authority with the lower house of parliament, therefore preventing the People’s Assembly (lower house) from monopolising power.

Most from that camp qualify that by saying that members of the Shura Council should be limited to technocrats with clear competencies and proven expertise, "making it the think-tank of the Egyptian state."