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Egypt: Vote on new constitution in key referendum underway
Egyptians voted Tuesday on a new constitution in a referendum that will pave the way for a likely presidential run by the nation’s top general months after he ousted Islamist President Mohammed Mursi.
The 2 day balloting is a key milestone in a military-backed political roadmap toward new elections for a president and a parliament after the July coup that has left country sharply divided between Brotherhood supporters in one camp, and the military, security forces and their supporters in the other.
A massive security operation was underway to protect polling stations and voters against possible attacks by militants loyal to Mursi, with soldiers and policemen deployed across the nation of some 90 million people.
The referendum is the sixth nationwide vote since the authoritarian Hosni Mubarak was toppled in a popular uprising in 2011, with the 5 others widely considered the freest ever seen in Egypt, including the June 2012 balloting won by Mursi. But this vote was tainted by criticism that many of the freedoms won in the anti-Mubarak revolution have vanished amid a fierce crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood that has spread to others as the military-backed administration tries to suppress all dissent.
The new charter, drafted by a liberal-dominated committee appointed by the military-backed government, would ban political parties based on religion, give women equal rights and protect the status of minority Christians. It also gives the military special status by allowing it to select its own candidate for the job of defence minister for the next 8 years and empowering it to bring civilians before military tribunals.
The charter is in fact a heavily amended version of a constitution written by Mursi’s Islamist allies and ratified in December 2012 with some 64 percent of the vote but with a nationwide turnout of just over 30 percent.
The current government is looking for a bigger “yes” majority and larger turnout to win undisputed legitimacy and perhaps a popular mandate for Gen. Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, to run for president this year.
