WUNRN
EGYPT CASTS BALLOTS FOR NEW
CONSTITUTION - 2-PART VOTING PROCESS - WOMEN
Edward Yeranian - December
15, 2012
Long
lines of people formed outside polling stations in the Egyptian capital
A
crowd of women sang
Egyptian
President Mohamed Morsi, who refused to postpone the referendum despite pleas
from opposition leaders and much of the judiciary, was shown on state TV
casting his ballot near the presidential palace. Morsi was surrounded by a
large number of bodyguards.
Clashes erupt
Supporters
and opponents of the controversial constitution clashed just hours before polls
opened in the Egyptian port city of
The
governor of
Former
Arab League head and unsuccessful presidential candidate Amr Moussa was a bit
more critical of the democratic process and its potential results. Moussa
said that the opposition did not contest the election of President Mohamed
Morsi, but that a constitution is different, because it should be accepted by a
large majority of the people to be legitimate.
Divided opinion
Many
Arab analysts point to the fact that Egyptian public opinion is extremely
polarized over the controversial constitution, which was approved by a rump
committee made up of mostly Islamist members, in a marathon overnight session,
15 days ago.
Egypt's Draft Constitution
-Limits president to two four-year terms
-Provides protections against arbitrary detention and torture
-Islamic law, or Sharia, serves as the basis for legislation
-Religious freedom is limited to Muslims, Christians and Jews
-Citizens are deemed equal before the law and equal in rights
The
pros and cons appeared almost evenly divided, as voters expressed their
opinions at a polling station on Manial Island in central Cairo. Ahmed, a civil
engineer, said that he opposes the document because of the mostly Islamist
composition of the committee. "The main problem, they always join
Islamic rules with the politics," Ahmed noted. "And we want to
separate between these rules, because we have Christian, Muslim maybe some
Jewish."
Omar,
a virologist, supports the document, because he thinks that it will give Egypt
some much needed stability. Omar said that he is in favor of holding the
referendum, although he has some reservations about the constitution per se.
Omar said that he thinks the vote creates movement in the political process at
a time when it is not a good idea to make the transition period longer.
Voting
officials extended the election by two hours Saturday because of heavy voter
turnout.
The
voting has been split into two rounds over two Saturdays, each round covering
different regions of the country.
Voters
in 14 Egyptian provinces are due to vote next Saturday. It was not immediately
clear when final results would be announced.