By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt – A senior Egyptian official claimed that an overwhelming majority of the Egyptians who voted in the country’s constitutional referendum earlier this week voted in favour of the draft constitution supported by the military led government in Cairo. Though the results he cited when talking to the Associated Press were unofficial the official claimed that more than 90% of voters who participated in the election voted in favour of the constitution.

Poll workers in Cairo sorted ballots on Wednesday, the last day voting in the nations constitutional referendum (Photo courtesy of the New York Times)

While unofficial results cited by officials show a victory for the military led interim government thousands of supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and former President Mohamed Morsi boycotted the elections, dozens of Brotherhood supporters were arrested during the voting process after taking to the streets in demonstrations against the election. The Muslim Brotherhoods and other Islamist supporters felt they were unfairly kept out of the drafting process of the constitution, which is a heavily edited version of the constitution written under Morsi’s regime ratified in December 2012, and that the removal of president Morsi was an illegal coup against the nation’s first democratically elected leader.

Election monitors voiced concerns over serious violations and irregularities in the voting process. There complaints included concerns over reported incidents of voter intimidation, specifically intimidation of the constitution’s opponents. However, monitors have not formally accused authorities of fraud or ballot-stuffing. While state officials claim more than 90% of voters voted yes for the constitution only about 38% of eligible voters turned out to vote this week. However, the voter turnout and percentage of voters supporting the constipation was higher in this round of elections than in the constitutional referendum held under Morsi. The Mediterranean province of Matrouh, an area with high support for Islamists reported the lowest turnout Tuesday and Wednesday with only 20% of eligible voters turning out to vote.

In a statement made Thursday by the Berlin-based global corruption watchdog Transparency International the origination said; “politically motivated violence, intimidation and repression from state and non-state actors limited and conditioned citizens’ political and electoral participation,” a local anti-corruption group called Shayfeencom (“We Are Watching You”) reported that one of its election observers was arrested and tortured by Egyptian security forces in the Suez Canal city of Port Said after an altercation at a polling station Wednesday.

The passage of the draft constitution is a critical milestone for the Egyptian interim government, the next major step for the Egyptian government will be the Presidential and Parliamentary elections expected later this year. The passage of the document may signify that despite claims of corporation, intimidation and human rights violations by the military led government many Egyptians supported the new Constitution in hopes that it will lead Egypt out of a period of instability and turmoil in favour of stability and economic growth.

For more information please see:

CBS News – Egypt’s constitution passing with flying colors: official – 16 January 2014

The New York Times – Egypt’s Crackdown Belies Constitution as It Nears Approval – 16 January 2014

Reuters – Egyptians back constitution, opening way to Sisi presidential run – 16 January 2014

The Washington Post – Egyptians approve new constitution, according to unofficial referendum results – 16 January 2014

Author: Impunity Watch Archive