CAIRO, (Reuters) – A big majority of Egyptians approved amendments to the constitution in a referendum, results showed, opening the door to early elections seen as favouring Islamists and figures affiliated with the old ruling party.
Decades of oppression under Hosni Mubarak crushed Egypt’s political life and secular activists who mobilised to oust him from the presidency say more time is needed before elections that may now come as early as September.
Saturday’s vote was the first in living memory whose outcome was not a foregone conclusion and 77 percent voted for the changes, many of them saying they hoped a ‘yes’ vote would help restore stability after weeks of upheaval.
“Egyptians came forward to have their say in the future of the country,” said Mohammed Ahmed Attiyah, the head of the judicial oversight committee, announcing a 41 percent turnout.
Turnout was always very low for elections which were routinely rigged under Mubarak.
The amendments were drawn up by a judicial panel appointed by the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. The military says it wants to relinquish authority to an elected government as quickly as possible.
One of the changes prevents a president serving more than eight years, making Egypt one of few Arab republics to set such a restriction. Mubarak, ousted by a popular uprising on Feb. 11, had ruled for three decades.
The referendum divided Egyptians between those who said the reforms would suffice and others who said the constitution needed a complete rewrite — something that will happen after the legislative elections.
The changes were backed by the Muslim Brotherhood, the main Islamist group and one of the forces that mobilised against Mubarak, and remnants of the former president’s National Democratic Party.
“The main fear is that it will be interpreted by some of the political forces that supported the referendum as a kind of support for their programmes, and I mean the Islamists,” political analyst Diaa Rashwan told Reuters.
Hossein Gohar, a doctor, said: “Liberal, secular voices had better unite now and go down to the streets to raise awareness.” 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”.
