Monday, March 21, 2011

CAIRO: A large majority of Egyptians approved amendments to the Constitution in a referendum, results showed Sunday, opening the door to early elections seen as favoring Islamists and figures affiliated with the old ruling party.

Decades of oppression under Hosni Mubarak crushed Egypt’s political life and secular groups which mobilized to oust him say more time is needed before elections that may now come as early as September.

Elections commission chief Ahmad Attiya said 41 percent of 45 million eligible voters cast ballots in Saturday’s referendum. More than 14 million – 77.2 percent – voted in favor, with around 4 million – 22.8 percent – opposed. “Egyptians came forward to have their say in the future of the country,” he said.

Turnout was always very low for elections which were routinely rigged under Mubarak.
One of the changes prevents a president serving more than eight years, making Egypt one of few Arab republics to set such a restriction. The amendments were drawn up by a judicial panel appointed by the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.

Tareq al-Bishry, head of the judicial council that drafted the amendments, said a committee comprising 100 members of the newly elected upper and lower houses of Parliament would draw up a new constitution after the legislative elections.

The referendum divided Egyptians between those who said the reforms would suffice for now and others who said the Constitution needed a complete rewrite.
The youth groups which spearheaded the protest movement joined a host of secular political parties and opposition figures in calling for a “no” vote.
But the activists umbrella group, the Coalition of the Youth of the Revolution, called on its Facebook page for supporters to accept the verdict.

“We are now entering a new phase in which Egyptians are going to decide on the shape of their new state for decades to come,” said the posting. “That’s why, as a matter of urgency, we need to stop trading accusations in order to resume work so that we can realize the goals of the revolution in the manner chosen by the people.

The reforms were backed by the Muslim Brotherhood, the main Islamist group, and remnants of Mubarak’s National Democratic Party, which had called on voters to support the changes.

Essam al-Erian, a Brotherhood spokesman, rejected claims the group had exploited its religious influence to persuade voters. The Brotherhood praised the Egyptian people, saying it hoped they would be “a model that would lead all the Arab world to the shores of freedom and human dignity.”

The Brotherhood has said it will seek neither a parliamentary majority or the presidency in the coming elections.
The United States, whose alliance with Egypt is a cornerstone of its regional policy, said the referendum was “an important step towards realising the aspirations of the Jan. 25 revolution.”

U.S. Ambassador to Egypt Margaret Scobey said in a statement “the sight of Egyptians coming forward in unprecedented numbers to peacefully exercise their newly won freedoms is cause for great optimism.”
Touring Tahrir Square Sunday, senior U.S. Senator John Kerry described the fact that Egyptians had finally taken part in a vote in which the outcome was not known in advance as “a very good sign for the steps ahead.”

Reform campaigner Mohamed ElBaradei and a group of his supporters were pelted with rocks, bottles and cans Saturday outside a polling center at Cairo’s Mokattam district in an attack he blamed on followers of the old regime. He was prevented from casting his vote. – Agencies