Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi has asked the Shura Council (upper house of parliament) to convene on Wednesday for its forty-fourth session, a local newspaper reported on Monday.

Now that the constitution has passed, the Shura Council will assume legislative power from president Mursi who acted as legislature following the dissolution of the People's Assembly (lower house of parliament) in June.

Mursi appointed 90 members of the Shura Council on Saturday while a new People's Assembly will soon be elected now that the constitution has passed.

Legislative power will be transferred to the new lower house upon its election which is expected to take place at the beginning of next year.

Preliminary results of the referendum on a new constitution written by an Islamist-dominated assembly show that over 60 percent of Egyptians approve of the controversial charter.

The percentage, close as it is, is enough to pass the constitution that opposition forces argue does not represent all Egyptians and undermines human rights and freedoms.

The committee that monitored the referendum is yet to announce the official results of the divisive referendum.