Video: For the first time in decades, Egyptians have voted freely on a package of constitutional changes eliminating restrictions on civil liberties. Reform campaigner Mohamed El-Baradei was pelted with debris outside a Cairo polling place. (March 19)
The High Judicial Commission, assigned to supervise the referendum, said results probably could be announced by Sunday evening. If the amendments are approved, the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has suggested it would organize legislative elections in July and a presidential vote as early as September. If they are rejected, the military would step in and outline its transitional document.
Yes or no vote?
Despite the broad enthusiasm for holding a vote, a number of leading political figures, particularly those most closely identified with the Tahrir Square revolt, called for a no vote. The figures include two announced presidential candidates, Mohamed ElBaradei, former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and Amr Moussa, secretary-general of the Arab League.
They and other critics said there had not been enough time since Mubarak’s downfall for voters to understand fully what they were deciding on in the referendum. In addition, they said, the military’s accelerated schedule did not allow time for new parties to form and organize their followers. This, they said, gave an unfair advantage to two established parties, the Muslim Brotherhood and Mubarak’s National Democratic Party.
As ElBaradei arrived to vote in the Mokattam area, a mob supporting a “yes” vote swarmed his car, smashed its windows and began throwing rocks at him, said a witness, Dina Abou Elsoud, 35. “The crowd was Muslim, saying ‘Vote yes for Islam’ and waving Muslim Brotherhood signs. . . . He didn’t get to vote. He didn’t get to go inside.”
Later, ElBaradei tweeted that he and his family were “attacked by a group of organized thugs” and faulted the police as “irresponsible.”
One of those voting no in Zamalek was Tarek el-Gazzar, a 34-year-old lawyer, who tapped out Facebook updates on his iPad while standing in a three-block line, alerting friends to expect waits of up to two hours. He expressed hope that the large turnout would include a majority of nos.
“It will give the country more time to create a real democracy,” he said.
Khalid Samir, a Canadian-trained heart surgeon voting in the middle-class Nasser City neighborhood, carried a sign around his neck saying: “No to piecemeal change. We want a new constitution.” Like Gazzar, he said, his fear was that rushing into elections now would just produce a reproduction of the political system as it stood under Mubarak.
“The old guys could get elected again,” he warned. “They are everywhere: in the governorates, in the ministries, in the media. They can easily keep their hands on power.”
Standing next to him, Mokhtar Hussein disagreed. Egypt needs to change, he said, but should do so “step by step.” Saturday’s constitutional amendments, he said, are the perfect first move toward a better future with a new style of government.
Asked what he did for a living, Hussein said he had been part of the old style, as an undersecretary in the Reconstruction Ministry.
Special correspondent Muhammad Mansour contributed to this report.
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