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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.
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