Egypt Awaits Outcome of Key Electoral Test for Morsi Ouster
Egypt awaited voters' verdict Wednesday on last year's overthrow of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi after polls closed in a two-day referendum on a new constitution.
Officials have said that army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who toppled Morsi in July, will closely monitor turnout in the vote as he mulls standing for the presidency himself in an election promised for later this year.
There is little question that the referendum will endorse the new charter, which the military-installed interim authorities say provides greater protections for freedom of speech and women's rights, as the Islamist opposition called a boycott.
But government and opposition alike will be closely watching the turnout in the first vote since the army ousted Egypt's first freely elected president.
Official results are expected within three days, but preliminary tallies will be provided by returning officers once the votes have been counted.
The count began shortly after polling stations closed.
Dozens of Morsi supporters blocked a metro station in a Cairo suburb, security officials said, but there were no reports of disruption to polling on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, sporadic clashes between Morsi supporters and their opponents and police left at least nine people dead.
Sisi has said he is prepared to run for president, if there is enough popular support, and the referendum provides the first concrete test.
In December 2012, 33 percent of the country's 53 million voters turned out for a referendum on the charter drafted by Morsi's team, with 64 percent voting yes.
"We are hoping it exceeds 50 percent," government spokesman Hany Salah told Agence France Presse.
The new text has done away with much of the Islamist-inspired wording of Morsi's charter, but it bolsters the military's powers and allows it to try civilians for attacks on the armed forces.
Morsi's Brotherhood was designated a terrorist group by the military-installed authorities as part of their crackdown on the movement that dominated all previous polls since the ouster of long-time ruler Hosni Mubarak in early 2011.
More than 300 people have been arrested for disrupting polling since voting began on Tuesday.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he hoped the referendum would be "transparent and accountable".
"But we don't know yet," he told reporters in Kuwait.
On Tuesday, State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said that a bill Congress is expected to pass on Friday will allow the White House to unfreeze all $1.5 billion (1.1 billion euros) in U.S. aid if it can certify that Egypt "has held a constitutional referendum, and is taking steps to support a democratic transition".
Sisi watching voter turnout
Egyptian media hailed Tuesday's first day of polling.
"Yes, even if criminals hate it," said a front page headline in Al-Wafd, a private daily, referring disparagingly to supporters of Morsi.
"Egyptians choose their future as millions write history," said state-owned daily Al-Gomhuria.
The government hopes a large turnout in favor of the new constitution will bolster its disputed authority, while army chief Sisi will monitor it for an "indicator" of his popularity, an official close to the general said.
Interim president Adly Mansour's government has pledged the referendum will be followed by parliamentary and presidential elections.
Backers of the charter are hoping it will garner the support of at least 70 percent of votes cast.
"We trusted the Muslim Brotherhood and agreed on their constitution, their government, their parliament... but they cheated us," said Jihan Abdel Aziz, as she waited outside a Cairo polling station to cast her vote on Wednesday.
"We are now voting for this constitution to get us out of this crisis."
But Amr Desoki, an Egyptian student who said he was not a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, told AFP that he was boycotting the referendum.
"This constitution or whatever this farce is going on these days... I am boycotting it... The constitution to me is illegitimate and I don't recognise it."
State media gave no indication of what turnout had been so far, and there was no official announcement.
Source: Agence France Presse
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/114161 |