Cairo: Protesting what they call the Islamist-dominated parliament's monopoly on drafting Egypt's new constitution, 17 prominent liberals and legal experts have gone to court seeking a "stronger public voice in writing the constitution".

"The parliament has violated the principle of equality when it has given itself the right to make up half of the constituent assembly that will write the constitution," said the litigants in their lawsuit. "It is unfair that the parliament has left only the other half for society," they added.

Days before the parliament is to vote on naming the 100 members of the assembly, Egypt's liberals have gone public with their worries that Islamists will have an influential say in writing the constitution.

A popular revolt that toppled long-standing president Hosni Mubarak last year has propelled Islamists onto the centre-stage of Egypt's politics. The Muslim Brotherhood and the radical Salafists—both suppressed under Mubarak's 30-year rule- hold more than two thirds of parliament.

Last week, parliament voted to have 50 lawmakers on the constitution panely, leaving the 50 others for different institutions and public figures. The parliament will also have a say in selecting the public figures who will join the panel.

"This mechanism obviously raises doubts about the desire of the parliamentary majority of seeking to dominate the process of writing the constitution," said Hassan Nafaa, a liberal political expert.

"With this majority belonging to an ideological trend whose commitments to democracy and rotation of power are questioned, there are fears that the parliament's move (on the constitution panel) will lead to more political polarization during the remaining part of the transitional period," he added.

The junta, who has been ruling Egypt since Mubarak's ouster, has pledged to hand over power to an elected civilian administration by July. Egyptians are to go to polls in late May to elect a new president.

However, fears are growing that the military rulers are currently working on a deal to preserve their interests with Islamists, mainly the Muslim Brotherhood. The new constitution is to define the role of the army in Egypt's future politics and the identity of the predominantly Muslim country.

"Parliaments do not usually write constitutions," said Ibrahim Darwish, a noted legal expert. "It is the constitution that creates the parliament, not vice versa," he told a private television this week.

In his view, the way the constitution panel is being formed indicates a "secret go-ahead" by the military rulers to the Muslim Brotherhood to have the final say in writing the constitution.

"Such a constitution will not live for long because it reflects the view of only one political power," he added.

A dozen of protest groups plan a mass demonstration on Saturday, the day when the parliament will name the 100 members of the constituent assembly.

"All Egyptian powers, including the liberals and leftists should be equally represented in the constituent assembly," said Tareq al-Khuli, a member of the self-styled Revolution Youth Coalition, who called for the protest.

"The parliamentary majority is changeable and it does not make sense that Islamists monpolise the process of writing a permanent constitution for the country," he added. According to him, Saturday's protest will be called "the Constitution is for People".

The Muslim Brotherhood is expected to get 30 out of the 50 seats allocated for the parliament in the panel. Their runners-up, the Salafists, will have 10. The 10 others will be left for other political parties represented in the parliament. Institutions like the army, police, and those representing the Muslims and Christians as well as trade and professional unions will be represented in the constitution panel too.

"Women and Christians will be duly represented in the membership of the panel," said Mohamed Emad Eddin, a lawmaker representing the Muslim Brotherhood. "Our group is keen that there will be eight to ten representatives of Christians and women," he added.

Emad Eddin denied that Islamists will monpolize the constitution drafting. "All Egypt's powers will be represented," he said.

Christians who, account for around 10 per cent of Egypt's 80 million population, have been concerned about the growing influence of Islamists.