215egyptEgypt’s long banned Muslim Brotherhood said Tuesday it intends to form a political party once democracy is established, as the country’s new military rulers launched a panel of experts to amend the country’s constitution to allow democratic elections later this year.

The panel is to draw up changes within 10 days to end the monopoly that ousted President Hosni Mubarak’s ruling party once held, which it ensured through widespread election rigging.

Generals from the Armed Forces Supreme Council, which now rules Egypt, said Tuesday the military wants to hand power to a government and elected president within six months, the firmest timetable yet outlined.

The military’s choices for the panel’s makeup were a sign of the new political legitimacy of the Islamic extremist Muslim Brotherhood: Sobhi Saleh, a former lawmaker from the Brotherhood who is seen as part of its reformist wing, is one of the panel members.

The eight-member committee held its opening meeting with Defense Minister Hussein Tantawi on Tuesday. The panel includes three judges from the Supreme Constitutional Court—one of them a Christian—and legal experts, said one of its members, scholar Mohammed Hassanein Abdel-Al.

The military is now also urging an end to labor strikes that began spreading across the country last week. Strikes have continued since even as the political protests themselves have largely ended.

The dozens of strikes, many hitting state agencies and industries, are a further blow to Egypt’s economy, damaged by the three weeks of upheaval. Egypt’s Foreign Minster Ahmed Aboul Gheit called on the international community to provide aid to boost Egypt’s economy.

The Muslim Brotherhood, banned since 1954, announced Tuesday that it would form a party once promised freer laws are in place.

Essam el-Erian, a senior leader in the Brotherhood, said the movement would not run any candidate for upcoming presidential elections, acknowledging that such a move would be too controversial.

The Brotherhood seeks an Islamic state in Egypt, and some Egyptians remain deeply suspicious of the secretive organization, fearing it will exploit the current turmoil to vault to power.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.