Constitutional referendum in Egypt 2014

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A constitutional referendum was held in Egypt from January 14-15, 2014, and Egyptians abroad voted from January 8-12. A new constitution for the Republic of Egypt was voted on . The new draft constitution, which was reworked into an entirely new constitution, included more rights for citizens and strengthens human rights . At the same time, however, the role of the military is to be strengthened. The draft constitution provides that the Egyptian defense minister must come from the ranks of the military and that military courts may also try civilians. In addition, the draft includes a ban on parties based on religion and sects.

The new constitution was adopted with 98.1 percent of the vote. The turnout was 38.6 percent and thus higher than in the constitutional referendum of 2012. The Muslim Brotherhood and several opposition groups had previously called for a boycott of the referendum. Election observers criticized the atmosphere of intimidation during the vote. So "dissenting voices" were arrested.

After the successful referendum, the Egyptian transitional government announced presidential elections for spring 2014.

Turnout by governorate

background

The schedule set by Interim President Adli Mansur should initially only change the current constitution and adapt it to international human rights standards. This process began with a committee of 10 legal experts. The amended draft showed many improvements compared to the 2012 constitution. The committee completed its work on August 20, 2013.

The second phase of the process involved changes by a committee of 50 experts, which were announced on September 1st. Amr Mussa was named chairman of the Committee of 50 on September 8th . A completely new draft constitution was presented to President Adli Mansur on December 3, 2013.

supporter

The new constitution included broad sections of the population including liberals, nationalists, leftists and trade unions, as well as the Salafists . The Tamarod , the largest extra-parliamentary opposition alliance, began on December 5, 2013 with a campaign to support the constitution. The largest Egyptian Trade Union, founded in 1957 Egyptian Trade Union Federation called on its members to vote for the constitution.

The National Salvation Front , the most important and largest party alliance, declared that it will call for a yes for the new constitution: this is how the Egyptian Social Democratic Party will vote for the constitution. The Party of Dignity , which is part of the Salvation Front, supported the new constitution as an individual party, as did the Party of the Free Egyptians . The People's Socialist Alliance and the Socialist Party of Egypt also supported the constitution as individual parties on the Salvation Front.

The popular current under Hamdin Sabahi , the second largest opposition alliance, also declared that it supported the constitution.

The Salafist Party of Light also said it would support the new constitution.

Criticism and boycotts

Former presidential candidate Khaled Ali rejected the constitution because it was "unsuitable" for Egypt. The Revolutionary Socialists will vote against them. The Street of the Revolutionary Front announced on January 8 that it would also vote against it.

The Strong Egypt Party and the April 6 Youth Movement announced that they would boycott the election.

Election observer

A total of 30,000 polling stations were monitored by around 14,000 judges on voting days and protected by 160,000 members of the security forces. Together with Tamarod and the EU , a total of 27,000 election observers were deployed to vote.

Result

Of the 681,000 eligible voters abroad, 103,000 cast their votes. In Saudi Arabia alone, 98% of the Egyptians eligible to vote there voted “Yes”, according to the Egyptian Embassy.

On January 18, the final result was announced by the electoral commission. According to this, 98.1% of the participants voted for the constitution; the turnout of 38.6% was only slightly above the value of the vote on the last constitution in 2012.

Bottom line:

option be right proportion of
Therefore 19,985,389 98.10%
On the other hand 381,341 1.90%
Invalid votes 246,947 -
total 20,613,677 100.00%
registered voters / turnout 53,423,485 38.6%
Source: al-Ahram

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Egypt votes on new constitution. Retrieved January 14, 2014 .
  2. ↑ Egypt draft constitution age roadmap. Al Jazeera , December 2, 2013, accessed January 12, 2014 .
  3. ↑ Tages-Anzeiger : Almost 100 percent in Egypt say yes , January 18, 2014.
  4. ↑ 22 Key Points in Egypt's New Draft Constitution. Al Monitor, August 23, 2013; archived from the original on January 13, 2014 ; accessed on January 12, 2014 .
  5. ^ Amended draft of Egyptian constitution passed to president. Egypt Independent, August 21, 2013, accessed January 12, 2014 .
  6. ^ Members of the constitutional committee of 50 announced. Egypt Independent, September 1, 2013, accessed January 12, 2014 .
  7. ↑ 50-member constitutional committee chooses Amr Moussa as chairman. Egypt Independent, September 8, 2013, accessed January 12, 2014 .
  8. ↑ Mansour receives amended constitution. Daily News Egypt, December 3, 2013, accessed January 12, 2014 .
  9. ^ Vote Yes to the constitution: ETUF. Daily News Egypt, December 24, 2013, accessed January 12, 2014 .
  10. ^ Salvation Front calls for voting 'yes' to amendments. Egypt Independent, December 10, 2013, archived from the original on December 13, 2013 ; accessed on January 12, 2014 .
  11. ↑ a b Parties start campaigns to support new constitution. Egypt Independent, December 3, 2013, accessed January 12, 2014 .
  12. ^ Al-Tayar Al-Sha'aby calls for Yes vote in constitutional referendum, supports Sabahy for Presidency. Daily News Egypt, December 21, 2013, accessed January 14, 2014 .
  13. ^ Nour Party not running for presidency: leading member. In: Egypt Independent. December 29, 2013, accessed January 12, 2014 .
  14. ^ Khaled Ali says constitution not appropriate for Egypt. Egypt Independent, December 7, 2013, accessed January 12, 2014 .
  15. ^ Revolutionary Socialists call for “no” vote on constitution. Aswat Masriya, December 18, 2013, accessed January 12, 2014 .
  16. ↑ Way of the Revolution Front to vote no to constitution. In: al-Ahram . January 8, 2014, accessed January 12, 2014 .
  17. ^ Strong Egypt, April 6 boycott referendum. In: Egypt Independent. January 13, 2014, accessed January 13, 2014 .
  18. ↑ tamarod to oversee constitutional referendum. Egypt Independent, December 9, 2013, accessed January 12, 2014 .
  19. ↑ EU monitors Constitution referendum. Egypt Independent, December 9, 2013, accessed January 12, 2014 .
  20. ↑ 27,000 observers to monitor referendum. The Cairo Post, January 10, 2014, accessed January 12, 2014 .
  21. ↑ Egypt's electoral commission: 98.1 percent vote for the new constitution , Spiegel Online. Retrieved January 18, 2014.