Egypt opposition cries‘fraud’ in new constitutionreferendum

CAIRO – Egypt's opposition
said on Sunday it will appeal
a referendum that voted in a
new constitution backed by
ruling Islamists, vowing to
keep up a struggle that has
spawned weeks of protests
and damaging instability.
Polling "fraud and violations"
skewed the results of two-
stage referendum, the final
leg of which was held on
Saturday, the National
Salvation Front said.
"We are asking the (electoral)
commission to investigate
the irregularities before
announcing official results,"
scheduled for Monday, a
Front member, Amr
Hamzawy, told a Cairo news
conference.
"The referendum is not the
end of the road. It is only one
battle," said another
member, Abdel Ghaffer
Shokr. "We will continue the
fight for the Egyptian
people."
Germany immediately backed
the call for a transparent
investigation into the results.
Foreign Minister Guido
Westerwelle said: "The new
constitution can only meet
with acceptance if the
process of its adoption is
beyond reproach."
But Westerwelle said it was
"not the power of the street
but rather the spirit of
compromise and tolerance
that should determine the
way forward for Egypt."
State media and President
Mohamed Morsi's supporters
in the Muslim Brotherhood
said the constitution was
passed with the support of
nearly two-thirds of voters,
based on unofficial tallies.
Opposition to the charter
fuelled demonstrations for
the past month, some of
them violent, such as clashes
that wounded 62 people in
the second city of Alexandria
on Friday, the day before the
final round of voting.
The army has deployed
troops to reinforce police
since December 5 clashes
outside the presidential
palace in Cairo killed eight
people and injured more
than 600.
Morsi and Islamists backing
the charter say it is necessary
to restore stability after the
early 2011 revolution that
toppled Hosni Mubarak.
But the opposition sees the
new constitution as a wedge
to usher in creeping Islamic
law through a weakening of
human rights, particularly
women's rights, and
undermine the
independence of the
judiciary.
It accuses Morsi of
steamrolling through the
referendum without
consensus on the charter,
and argues that a low voter
turnout of around 32
percent undermined the
plebiscite's legitimacy.
Approval of the constitution
would trigger parliamentary
elections in two months'
time to replace an Islamist-
dominated assembly that
was dissolved by Egypt's
constitutional court before
Morsi's election in June.
In the meantime, all
legislative business is being
handled by the senate, also
under the sway of Islamists.
In a gesture towards
"national dialogue," Morsi on
Saturday appointed 90
additional senators,
including eight women and
12 Christians.
The US government, which
sees Egypt as a pillar of its
Middle East policy and
provides Cairo with $1.3
billion annually in military aid,
has deliberately avoided
public comment on the crisis.
But the Republican
chairwoman of the Foreign
Affairs Committee in the US
House of Representatives,
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, on
Saturday called the vote "a
defeat for the Egyptian
people" at the hands of "an
Islamic dictatorship."
She said: "We must use our
aid as leverage to promote
democratic reforms, support
freedom of religion, and
enshrine the protection of
minority communities."