Egyptian Constitution Approved by 64% of the Vote

24/12/2012

- constitution - Egypt - vote

Egypt's Islamists claim victory in constitutional vote

A majority of Egyptians have approved a new Islamist-backed constitution in a two-round referendum, with about 64% percent of voters backing the controversial charter according to unofficial results released by the Muslim Brotherhood.

By FRANCE 24 (text)

Egypt has adopted a new, Islamist-backed constitution with nearly two-thirds support in a referendum preceded by weeks of sometimes bloody protests, official media said on Sunday.

The secular-leaning opposition, which has alleged fraud, was mulling its next move in its campaign against the text, which it says limits the freedoms of religious minorities and women. It was to hold a news conference later Sunday.

Official results are due on Monday after the second and final round of voting on Saturday.

Unofficial tallies given by state media and by President Mohamed Morsi's supporters in the Muslim Brotherhood said 64% of those who voted backed the constitution.

"The Egyptian people continue their march towards finalising the construction of a democratic modern state, after turning the page on oppression," the Brotherhood's political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party, said in a statement.

Approval of the constitution would trigger parliamentary elections in two months' time to replace an Islamist-dominated assembly that was dissolved by Egypt's constitutional court before Morsi was elected in June.

In the meantime, all legislative business will be handled by the senate, also under the sway of Islamists. On Saturday, Morsi appointed 90 additional senators, including eight women and 12 Christians, to further "national dialogue," his spokesman said.

Low turnout

The main opposition group, the National Salvation Front, said it had seen fraud in both rounds of voting.

The Front had tried to scupper the poll with mass rallies before switching its focus to a last-minute campaign to vote down the charter.

The text was drafted by a panel dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood and ultra-orthodox Salafist groups. Christians and liberals boycotted the process in protest at changes they saw as weakening human rights, especially those of women.

Combined turnout from both rounds was 32%, according to the Muslim Brotherhood.

FRANCE 24 correspondent in Egypt, Ashraf Khalil, said that the low voter turnout “indicates a lack of faith in the entire process.” He added, “Both sides come out of this with a bit of ammunition.”

In Washington, the Republican chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the US House of Representatives, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, called the vote "a defeat for the Egyptian people."

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"We cannot celebrate the trade of an authoritative regime for an Islamic dictatorship," she said.

Sunday editions of Egyptian newspapers reflected the divisions in the country.

"Egypt heads to stability," read the front-page headline in state-owned Al-Akhbar.

"Mass violations," the mass circulation independent daily Al-Masry al-Youm reported.

The head of the Brotherhood's FJP, Saad al-Katatni, offered an olive branch to other parties on Saturday, saying in a statement the party hopes "to turn over a new leaf" in the political confrontation.

Security drive

Pre-referendum tensions over the vote were seen in Egypt's second city Alexandria on Friday, when 62 people were hurt as stone-throwing mobs torched vehicles.

On December 5, eight people were killed and hundreds more injured in clashes between rival demonstrators outside the presidential palace in Cairo.

Some 250,000 police and soldiers were deployed to provide security during the referendum. The army has also positioned tanks around the presidential palace since early this month.

Morsi's vice president, Mahmud Mekki, whose post is not mentioned in the new charter, announced on Saturday that he was resigning.

He said he had wanted to resign in November but stayed on to help manage the political crisis.

State television reported that Central Bank chief Faruq El-Okda had also resigned, but later cited a cabinet source as denying it.

(France 24 with wires)

Egyptian judges review ballot on divisive constitution

By Tamim Elyan

Mon Dec 24, 2012 8:17am EST

CAIRO (Reuters) -

Egyptian judges were investigating opposition accusations of voting irregularities on Monday before declaring the result of a referendum set to show that a contentious new constitution has been approved.

President Mohamed Mursi sees the basic law, drawn up mostly by Islamists, as a vital step in Egypt's transition to democracy almost two years after the fall of military-backed strongman Hosni Mubarak.

The opposition, a loose alliance of liberals, moderate Muslims and Christians, says the document is too Islamist, ignores the rights of minorities and represents a recipe for more trouble in the Arab world's most populous nation.

Critics have also said the vote, conducted over two stages in a process that ended on Saturday, was marred by a litany of irregularities, and have demanded a full inquiry.

"The committee is currently compiling results from the first and second phase and votes from Egyptians abroad, and is investigating complaints," Judge Mahmoud Abu Shousha, a member of the committee, told Reuters.

He said no time had been set for an announcement of the final outcome, but it appeared unlikely to be on Monday.

A tally by the Muslim Brotherhood, which lifted Mursi into the presidency, indicated a 64 percent "yes" vote, although only a third of the 51 million eligible Egyptians took part. An opposition count was similar, but they said the ballot had been marred by abuses in both rounds.

By forcing the pace on the constitution, Mursi risks squandering the opportunity to build consensus for the austerity measures desperately needed to kickstart an ailing economy.

Highlighting investor concerns, Standard and Poor's cut Egypt's long-term credit rating on Monday and said another cut was possible if political turbulence worsened.

The low turnout also prompted some independent newspapers to question how much support the charter really had, with opponents saying Mursi had lost the vote in much of the capital.

"The referendum battle has ended, and the war over the constitution's legitimacy has begun," the newspaper Al-Shorouk wrote in a headline, while a headline in Al-Masry Al-Youm read: "Constitution of the minority".

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

If the "yes" vote is confirmed, a parliamentary election will follow in about two months, setting the stage for Islamists and their opponents to renew their battle.

Under the new constitution, legislative powers that have been temporarily held by Mursi move to the Islamist-dominated upper house of parliament until a new lower house is elected.

The make-up of the Supreme Constitutional Court, which Islamists say is filled with Mubarak-era appointees bent on throwing up legal challenges to Mursi's rule, will also change as its membership is cut to 11 from 18.

Those expected to leave include Tahani al-Gebali, who has described Mursi as an "illegitimate president".

The head of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, Saad al-Katatni, wrote on Facebook that the group's members were "extending our hands to all political parties and all national forces", adding: "We will all start a new page".

But the opposition National Salvation Front says the new basic law deepens a rift between the liberals and Islamists who combined to overthrow Mubarak, and will extend the turbulence that has taken a heavy toll on society and economy.

The opposition said they would continue to challenge the charter through protests and other democratic means.

"We do not consider this constitution legitimate," liberal politician Amr Hamzawy said on Sunday, arguing that it violated personal freedoms. "We will continue to attempt to bring down the constitution peacefully and democratically."

The run-up to the referendum was marred by protests, originally sparked when Mursi awarded himself broad powers on November 22. At least eight people were killed when rivals clashed in protests outside Mursi's official palace in Cairo. Violence also flared in the second city, Alexandria.

(Additional reporting by Shaimaa Fayed and Patrick Werr; Writing by Edmund Blair and Maria Golovnina; Editing by Kevin Liffey)