Egypt likely to abolish upper house

Egypt's constitution drafting committee agreed on principle on Thursday to abolish Shura Council (upper house of parliament).

Of the 50-member committee, 23 voted for abolishing the Shura council, 19 voted against the move, seven members were absent and one abstained from voting, state-run Ahram newspaper reported on its website.

A new article of the constitution in this regard will be written and put for final voting in the committee, the committee's spokesman Mohamed Salmawy told state-run MENA news agency.

The move to abolish Shura Council, which has primarily consultative role, has stirred division between members of the committee for the past few days.

Egypt suspended 2012 constitution in the wake of the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in early July. The army has put forward a roadmap including amending the constitution. A new constitution will be subject to a national referendum by December.