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EGYPT - PROPOSED CONSTITUTION VOTE REFERENDUM
Outside a Polling Station in
Voters show off ballot ink in
January 14, 2014 - A first day of voting has
been taking place in Egypt on a new constitution that could pave the way for
fresh elections.
But clashes
involving supporters of ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi led to several
deaths.
The new
charter is to replace the constitution passed under Mr Morsi before he was
forced out by the army.
The military
wants a strong Yes vote in the two-day referendum to endorse his removal.
Mr Morsi's
Muslim Brotherhood, now designated a terrorist group, is boycotting the vote.
Shortly
before polls opened, a bomb exploded at a Cairo courthouse
His
supporters clashed with security forces in several parts of Egypt and officials
said nine people had died:
- Four
people were killed and more wounded in clashes in the Upper Egypt city of
Sohag, though details of the incident are disputed
- One
person died in Nahia, in the Giza district of Cairo
- Another
was killed during an anti-referendum protest in Bani Suef, south of Cairo,
the governor there told the BBC
- Three
people - Morsi supporters according to security sources - are reported to
have been shot dead in the Cairo suburb of Kerdasa
Shortly
before voting began, there was an explosion near a court building in Cairo's
Imbaba district, although no casualties were reported.
Many of the
hundreds queuing up at this polling station in Nasr City see the referendum as
a personal vote in favour of Gen Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Several military Chinook
helicopters flew overhead. A military convoy drove outside the polling station
- on the bonnet of one vehicle was a picture of Gen Sisi.
Sally Nabil,
Alexandria
It was a
calm morning. The security presence is quite heavy, but the forces remained at
a distance, keeping an eye all around, whether from the roofs or both inside
and outside the polling stations.
Abdel Bassir
Hassan, Mansoura
There was a
considerable turnout at polling stations during the first hours of the vote,
although numbers are reducing as the day goes on.
Ahmed
Kilany, Assiut
In the first
hours of voting, numbers have been significant, although in the surrounding
villages turnout is more limited. A huge security operation is being mounted
for the two days of voting. Some 160,000 soldiers and more than 200,000
policemen are being deployed nationwide.
The BBC's
Orla Guerin in Cairo says this has been a distorted campaign, with endorsements
for the new constitution flooding state-run and private TV and radio. However,
spotting any posters from the No campaign is a lot harder and people have been
arrested for putting them up, our correspondent says. Democratic or not, she
says, the referendum is seen by many as more than a ballot on a new
constitution - it is widely viewed as a verdict on the removal of Mr Morsi.
State-run media were on Tuesday
describing the vote as a "democratic ceremony" - a term widely used
during the Hosni Mubarak era but not heard since he was ousted in the
revolution of January 2011.
One voter in
Cairo, Salah Mustafa, told the BBC: "Compared with the document that we
had last year, which was a really horrible constitution, there's a lot of
rights."
But Mohammed Soudan, a spokesman for
the Brotherhood's political wing, said most people were boycotting the vote,
adding: "This is a message that we are not recognising this kind of new
power."
Interim
Prime Minister Hazem Beblawi has called the referendum the "most critical
moment" for Egypt.
The new constitution was drafted by
a 50-member committee that included only two representatives of Islamist
parties.
The authorities
maintain that it is a crucial step towards stability.
Under the
new constitution:
- The
president may serve two four-year terms and can be impeached by parliament
- Islam
remains the state religion - but freedom of belief is absolute, giving
some protection to minorities
- The
state guarantees "equality between men and women"
- Parties
may not be formed based on "religion, race, gender or geography"
- Military
to appoint defence minister for next eight years
Critics say
the new constitution favours the army at the expense of the people, and fails
to deliver on the 2011 revolution.
Egypt's
constitutional referendum explained - in 60 seconds
A
Yes vote could lead to fresh elections and it now seems certain that Gen Sisi,
who backed Mr Morsi's removal following mass protests, will run for president.
EGYPT KEY DATES
- 25 Jan 2011: Anti-government protests begin
- 11 Feb 2011:
President Hosni Mubarak resigns
- 24 June 2012:
Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammed Morsi wins presidential elections
- 26 Dec 2012:
President Morsi signs a controversial new constitution into law following
a referendum
- 3 July 2013:
President Morsi is deposed after street protests
- 14 Aug 2013:
Hundreds of pro-Morsi supporters killed when troops clear sit-in protests
- 4 Nov 2013:
Mohammed Morsi goes on trial
- 14 Jan 2014:
Referendum held on new constitution
Voter Turnout Is
'Key'
The
constitution is expected to attract a resounding Yes vote, but the turnout is
key, analysts say.
The last
charter, passed just over a year ago, was approved by 63.8%, but only 32.9% of
the population voted.
Mohammed
Morsi was Egypt's first democratically elected president but was deposed by the
military last July.
He is being
held in jail in Alexandria, facing several criminal charges relating to his
time in office - which he says are politically motivated.
More than
1,000 people have died in violence since Mr Morsi's overthrow.
_________________________________________________________
Egyptian Center for Women's Rights -
ECWR
Women’s Lines Strong in Participation, Observation
First day of Voting on the New Constitution Referendum
During the first day of the Constitution referendum, the polling stations witnessed the presence of big numbers of women since the early hours of the day, from different ages and social classes, to take part in the referendum where they challenged all the threats and fears that the society is facing in all the governorates.
The Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights ECWR’s operations room has monitored the referendum from gender perspective. In addition, the “participate & monitor” initiative on facebook has worked hand in hand with ECWR, the initiative aims at:
- Opening a channel for women to voluntarily work, so
that they can guarantee a better situation for them in order to increase
the public and political participation.
- Monitoring the violations that women and girls face
during the referendum from individuals, groups or institutions.
- Analyzing the pros and cons of the actual
implementation of the legal procedures of the referendum and it direct as
well as indirect impact on women’s participation.
- And the Observations that we received from the field
observers were as follow:
Logistical Facilitation:
The HEC provided logistical support for the judges via voting in rosters (with limited numbers assigned to each one) rather than scattered ballots which speed up the process of voting and facilitated the judge’s job by not requiring the judge to count the ballots and matching them with the actual number of voters. In addition, HEC provided with every transparent ballot box another regular box that contains the tools, paper work that will be needed for the poll (ballots, open and closure applications, ink, and a special stamp for each poll to stamp the ballots, so that any unstamped ballot shall be detected.
Some judges suggested that they needed an assistant with a computer to help the women retrieve their numbers on the voter lists, as many women came to the polls without knowing their number which caused some delays in the voting queues.
Administrative Organization:
The police and military forces were present comprehensively to secure the
poll centers and organize the queues which facilitated the entry and exit
processes of citizens
For example:
- In Giza governorate: in the poll center in Mustafa
Kamel school and Mohamed Farid School in El Warrak, the lines witnessed
huge numbers of women since the early morning hours and women were
singing, so the military and the police organized the lined to facilitate
the entry to the polls
- And in Minya governorate, in Taha Hussein school in
Bani Mazar, women were queuing in front of the school very early in the
morning and the polls opened on time, the majority of the citizens knew
their numbers’ on the voter lists before heading to the polls and there
was cooperation between the security forces and the observers inside the
polls
- In addition, in the Religious institute poll center in
Bani Mazar, there was good organization whereby there were mixed polls for
men and women, people were cooperative and the polls were organized and
there were spaces for the elders to facilitate their entry and exit from
the polls
- In Assuit governorate: in the polls of Mosha primary
school for boys no. 116 and 117, the polls opened at 8 AM and women voted
smoothly, but the turnover rate from women was weak in the early morning
and was limited to the working women
There was a necessity to consider the Gender Aspect in Organizing the Polls: As the operations room received complains that stated that women’s polls were located in the 2nd and 3rd floors of the buildings which made it hard for the old women and those who accompanied their children with them to make it to the second and third floors. For example in Alexandria (El Agamy), Hanoveil (poll no. 3332 – Hafsa School and Mohamed Bekhet School) where women’s only poll was in the third floor.