Massive Turnout for Egypt’s Historic Vote

CAIRO – In a crucial test of Egypt’s transition to democracy, hundreds of thousands of Egyptians flocked to the polling station to vote in a referendum on proposed constitutional amendments that will shape Egypt’s immediate political future.

“It is too early to tell what the voter turnout is, but it is clear that this is unprecedented,” Ahmed Samih Farag, a human rights activist and monitor with the Egyptian Coalition for Election Monitoring, told Reuters on Saturday, March 19.
The polls opened at 8.00 a.m. (0600 GMT) and close at 7 p.m. (1700 GMT).
By early morning, queues of hundreds had formed at polling stations across the country to cast ballots in the first vote in living memory whose outcome has not been known in advance.
The result is expected to be announced on Sunday evening or Monday morning, a member of a judicial committee involved in overseeing the election told Reuters.
The outcome will determine how quickly Egypt can hold elections.
Under the proposed amendments, the presidential term will be reduced to four years with a two-term limit.
A future president would need to appoint a deputy within 60 days of taking office.
Presidential candidates must either have the support of 30 members of parliament or the backing of 30,000 eligible voters across about half the country’s governorates.
Otherwise, he must be nominated by a registered political party with at least one member elected to either the upper or lower house of parliament.
The proposed changes also necessitate the president to be at least 40, has two Egyptian parents with no other nationality, and not be married to a non-Egyptian.
The amendments will also see installing judicial supervision on election.
Nearly 45 million Egyptians are eligible to cast ballot in Saturday’s referendum.
If passed, the changes are supposed to lay the groundwork for parliamentary elections in June and a presidential vote in September.
The amendments were drawn up by a judicial committee appointed by the military rulers to whom Mubarak handed power on February 11.
They are designed to open the door to legislative and presidential elections that will allow the military to hand power to a civilian, elected government.
Mubarak was forced from office by an 18-day popular uprising demanding his removal and an end to autocratic rule in the country he had governed for three decades.

Free Choice

Emerging from the polling stations, voters happily raise their ink-stained fingers as proof they had cast their ballots in the first display of free choice in decades.
“I voted yes — yes for stability and for things to go back to normal,” said Mustafa Fouad, 24, an engineer voting in Cairo at a polling station.
“I voted no. This is not enough,” said Atef Farouk, who arrived at the same polling station with his wife and three daughters, who waved an Egyptian flag as their parents voted.
“We want a new constitution,” added Farouk, 41.
Egypt has been alive with debate over the referendum between those who say the constitution needs a complete rewrite and others who argue that the amendments will suffice for now.
The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s most influential, well-organized opposition group, has come out in favor of the amendments.
Secular groups have broader concerns about the course the military has charted towards elections. They want more time before elections to allow political life to recover from decades of oppression under Mubarak.
They say the timetable set by the military is too short, giving an advantage to the well-organized Brotherhood and remnants of Mubarak’s National Democratic Party.
The military council hopes the amendments will pass so it can move along the path it has set towards elections that will allow it to cede power to an elected government.
Eager to get out of power as quickly as possible, the military has said the amendments are the best way forward, if not the ideal one.
Rejection of the amendments will force the council to extend an interim period and to form a new judicial committee to re-write the constitution.
But while the outcome is far from being predictable, a sense of pride and enthusiasm is certainly prevailing in the air.
“The country is finally ours and we will never let it slip again by staying at home when we should be right here, in line, to make our voices heard,” said Om Sayyed, 65, queuing at one polling station.
“I am old and this isn’t for me, it’s for my children … it’s important I teach them their voice counts.”

Source: OnIslam