Mohamed El-Beltagi, a leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood and secretary-general of its political wing the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), has rejected comments likening the party's current dominance in parliament to that of Mubarak's National Democratic Party (NDP) before the revolution.

Speaking on the CBC satellite TV channel, El-Beltagi explained that the 100-member constituent assembly tasked with drafting Egypt's new constitution was elected democratically based on a fair balance of different professions, religious sects, and political parties.  No procedural mistakes had been made in the selection of assembly members and the issue did not deserve the level of media attention it was receiving.

The Islamist leader also toned down his opposition to a Brotherhood presidential candidate. He had previously said it would be unfair to both the Brotherhood and the nation if the group controlled the parliament, government and presidency.

In addition, he said the Brotherhood should admit that it had contributed to divisions within the revolutionary movement. He urged the group to work on reuniting the revolutionary forces in light of the Brotherhood's post-revolution political ascendancy.

Ahmed El-Sayed El-Naggar, an economic expert at Al-Ahram, on Monday joined a growing list of liberals and leftists to resign from the constituent assembly, claiming it did not serve the revolution. El-Naggar, a leftist, was the only non-Islamist economist on the body.

Ashraf Abdel-Ghafour, the head of the actors’ syndicate, also resigned from the body on Monday.

Field Marshall Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, head of Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), met the heads of all political parties represented in parliament and various other political figures on Tuesday to discuss the withdrawal of members from the constituent assembly.