Egypt Votes Yes To ShariaH Law !!!
Egypt’sMuslim Brotherhood got the constitution it wanted, so it claims. After two controversial rounds of voting, the brotherhood unofficially declared a win, with 64 percent support, for the Islamic-backed constitution. The country’s election commission—which has reliably tallied accurate results for past elections—will announce the official outcome tomorrow.
Opposition groups already dispute the Brotherhood’s alleged win, calling for an investigation into claims of voter fraud. While Islamist President Mohamed Morsi and his party pushed the constitution under the guise of bringing unity and stability to Egypt, the legitimacy of the redesigned government framework may be weakened by a low voter turnout of 32 percent and claims of voting violations.
Is this the “new time” that the Mayans predicted ???
“The referendum is not the end game. It is only a battle in this long struggle for the future of Egypt,” said the National Salvation Front, the main opposition group. “We will not allow a change to the identity of Egypt or the return of the age of tyranny.”
The opposition claims the new constitution seeks to enshrine Islamic rule in Egypt and accuses the Islamists of trying to monopolize power.
Critics say it does not sufficiently protect the rights of women and minority groups and empowers Muslim clerics by giving them a say over legislation. Some articles were also seen as tailored to get rid of Islamists’ enemies and undermine the freedom of labor unions.
The latest political battle began with Morsi’s Nov. 22 decrees that gave him powers to protect the Islamist-dominated panel writing the constitution and dismiss the country’s top prosecutor, a holdover from the Mubarak era.
Although Morsi subsequently rescinded the powers that gave him immunity from judicial oversight, his decision to replace the prosecutor general was viewed by many in the judiciary as trampling over their powers. Hundreds of prosecutors held a rally Sunday demanding the new, Morsi-appointed prosecutor general quit, days after he retracted his resignation claiming it was rendered under pressure.
The prosecutors said in a news conference that they will be on strike until he quits. Scores of lawyers who support Morsi’s decision held an earlier rally, demanding that the top prosecutor stay, and accusing the opposition of being “thugs.” One major concern in the aftermath of the constitutional turmoil is Egypt’s deteriorating economy, which has been battered by the two years of turmoil and taken an added hit from renewed violence recently.
Adding to the anxiety, state television reported on Saturday amidst voting on the referendum that the central bank governor had resigned, then retracted the report. The governor turned up at a meeting of the government’s economic team Sunday in an apparent attempt to quell nervousness over the state of the economy. The government stressed the urgency of stability.
“The financial and economic situations are dire,” government spokesman Alaa el-Hadidi said, according to comments published by the state news agency MENA. With the referendum behind, el-Hadidi said economic policies must be at the center of attention, adding that the government will work to improve the investment environment to attract foreign investors.
The government had to postpone a request for $4.8 billion of IMF loans, putting off unpopular tax increases and reforms to after the referendum for fear they would only stoke political tensions. A day before the official results of the constitution are expected, the opposition front said it filed complaints to the country’s top prosecutor and the election commission asking for an investigation.
“The results of the referendum are for sure because of the rigging, violations and mismanagement that characterized it,” the National Salvation Front said. It alleged the vote was marred by lack of complete judicial supervision, which led to overcrowding that pushed down the voting rate. It also charged there was interference by those who were supposed to be supervising the vote, with some instructing people to vote “yes.” Many judges who traditionally supervise elections boycotted supervising the vote.
“We don’t think the results reflect the true desires of the Egyptian people,” Khaled Dawoud, the front’s spokesman, told The Associated Press. However, the Brotherhood insisted violations were limited and should not affect the referendum’s integrity. The Freedom and Justice Party, the Brotherhood’s political arm, said it hoped the passage of the constitution would be a “historic opportunity” to heal Egypt’s divisions and launch a dialogue to restore stability and build state institutions.
If the violations are considered serious enough, there could be new votes in some areas that alter the results slightly. The referendum was conducted in two stages with the first vote on Dec. 15 and the second on Saturday. The Muslim Brotherhood and some media outlets have accurately tallied the outcome of past elections by compiling numbers released by electoral officials at thousands of individual polling stations shortly after voting closes.
Turnout for the vote was 32 percent of Egypt’s more than 51 million eligible voters, according to the Muslim Brotherhood. That was significantly lower than other elections since the uprising ended in February 2011. The opposition has pointed to the low turnout as well as allegations of violations in the voting to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the referendum. The Brotherhood said 64 percent voted “yes” to the constitution in a tally of both stages of voting. For Saturday’s second stage only, the Brotherhood said 71 percent of those who voted said “yes” with 99 percent of polling stations accounted for. Read The Full Article.
Egypt Votes Yes to Sharia Law
Source : Associated Press