Senior Muslim Brotherhood officials are continuing negotiations with the ruling military council over the powers that will be available for president-elect Mohamed Morsi, Reuters has reported. Those negotiations extend to how Morsi will select his cabinet and how a new constituent assembly might be selected.

"We are working on reaching a compromise on various items so all parties are able to work together in the future," said Essam el-Haddad, who also serves as a spokesman and an aide to Morsi.

Minutes after the polls closed on June 17, the military council issued a package of constitutional amendments giving itself legislative power and the ability to veto draft articles in the constitution currently being written. It also took over the president's role as commander-in-chief.

"We do not accept having a president without powers. The solution being worked out now is scaling back those restrictions so that President Mursi can deliver to the people what he promised," Haddad said. "The negotiations involve loosening the grip of the generals on the constitutional assembly so that it can draft the new constitution without interference."

The constitutional assembly currently at work was selected by the Brotherhood-dominated parliament that has now been dissolved. It is scheduled to continue its work, though the SCAF's unilateral declaration orders it dissolved if it encounters any serious but ill-defined obstacles. 

A senior Brotherhood aide, who asked not to be named, told Reuters the generals had agreed to lift their veto power over the composition of the 100-member assembly, provided that about 10 of its Islamist members were replaced with technocrats favoured by the military. Those comments suggest the Brotherhood is contemplating being forced to choose a new assembly.

The aide also said Morsi's team had agreed with the military on how to divide cabinet ministries, leaving defence, justice and interior for the military to choose.

Brotherhood officials also said a legal route would be found to get around the dissolution of parliament, perhaps leaving only a selection of disqualified MPs' seats - those subject to a supreme court ruling on an electoral technicality - subject to reruns.