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Egypt: Vote on new constitution in key referendum underway
El-Sissi has yet to say outright whether he plans to seek the nation’s highest office, but his candidacy appears increasingly likely every day. “The constitution is not perfect,” said Ameena Abdel-Salam after she cast her ballot in Cairo’s upscale Zamalek district. “But we need to move forward and we can fix it later.”
Illustrating the high stakes, the government and media have portrayed the balloting as the key to the nation’s security and stability. Hundreds of thousands of fliers, posters, banners and billboards urged Egyptians to vote “yes.”
Long lines of voters began to form nearly 2 hours before polling stations opened in some Cairo districts. Women and the elderly were heavily represented.
The balloting is the first electoral test for the popularly backed coup that ousted Mursi and his Muslim Brotherhood. A comfortable “yes” vote and a respectable turnout would bestow legitimacy on the cascade of events that followed the coup while undermining the Islamists’ argument that Mursi remains the nation’s elected president.
The Muslim Brotherhood, now branded as a terrorist group, has called for a boycott of the vote. Mursi himself is facing 3 separate trials on charges that carry the death penalty.
The unprecedented security surrounding the vote follows months of violence that authorities have blamed on Islamic militants. In the 6 months since Mursi’s ouster, there has been an assassination attempt on the interior minister and deadly attacks on key security officers, soldiers, policemen and provincial security and military intelligence headquarters.
“You must come out and vote to prove to those behind the dark terrorism that you are not afraid,” Interim President Adly Mansour told reporters after he cast his ballot.
Mursi’s supporters have promised massive demonstrations and have labeled the draft charter a “constitution of blood,” but protests in several parts of the country drew only several hundred supporters.
The government has warned it would deal harshly with anyone interfering with the referendum. Most of Egypt’s minority Coptic Christians, who make up about 10 percent of the population, have backed the removal of Mursi and the charter in hopes of winning religious freedoms.
Source: Associated Press
