Egypt Votes For New Constitution Jan 14-15,2014

Egyptians start voting on Tuesday Jan 14,2014 on a draft for their country’s next constitution, a vision for the nation’s future and a milestone in a military-backed roadmap put in place after Mohamed Morsy was overthrown in a coup in July 2013

An astounding 160,000 soldiers and 200,000 policemen are to deploy across Egypt to guard polling stations and voters on Tuesday Jan 14,2014 and Wednesday Jan 15,2014

A poster promoting a "yes" vote in Egypt's Constitutional referendum and adorned with a picture of Defense Minister Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi hangs in a coffee shop in downtown Cairo on Wednesday Jan 15,2014

 

Egyptians line up to vote on the second and final day in the country's Constitutional referendum in Cairo on Wednesday Jan 15,2014 undeterred by a day of sporadic violence. 

More than half of Egypt’s eligible voters cast their ballots in a referendum on a draft constitution that marks the first major step in the country’s military-backed transition to democracy

Election workers count ballots ticked "agree", at the end of the second, final day of a key referendum on a new constitution, inside a polling station in Cairo, Egypt, on Wednesday Jan 15,2014

The military-backed government says the referendum is aimed at restoring democracy after the army’s ouster of president Mohamed Morsy.

The new constitution, drafted by a mostly secular commission, is to replace the one adopted in 2012 under president Mohamed Morsy

“Vote counting is under way. Results available so far point to a high turnout exceeding 55 per cent,” police spokesman General Abdel-Fatah Othman said.

“Voters who have approved the constitution may exceed 95 per cent of all those who cast their ballots,” he told the private broadcaster al-Hayat.

At least 95.8% of the ballots cast in the southern city of Sohag were in favour of the charter, reported al-Hayat, quoting electoral officials.

In the coastal city of Suez, 98 % approved the draft, the broadcaster added.

Official results were not expected until Saturday Jan 18,2014

The banned Muslim Brotherhood had called for a boycott of the vote

Note

The referendum is the sixth nationwide vote since the authoritarian Hosni Mubarak was ousted in a popular uprising in 2011, with the five others possibly the freest ever seen in Egypt.

The new charter, drafted by a liberal-dominated committee appointed by the military-backed government, would ban political parties based on religion, give women equal rights and protect the status of minority Christians. But it also gives the military special status by allowing it to select its own candidate for the job of defence minister for the next eight years and empowering it to bring civilians before military tribunals.