Egypt Islamists, police clash ahead of vote results
18Jan AFP
Official results are due Saturday of an Egyptian referendum billed as
a popular endorsement of president Mohamed Morsi's overthrow, with
tensions high following deadly clashes between his Islamist supporters
and police.At least three people were killed in the clashes Friday, as
Morsi supporters faced off with tear gas- firing police in several
cities, security officials said.
The interim authorities trumpeted the Tuesday-Wednesday poll as a
chance for voters to show their support for the army's overthrow in
July, after massive street protests, of Egypt's first freely elected
president.
Flagship state-owned daily Al-Ahram hailed a 98 percent vote in
support of the new charter drafted to replace the Islamist-inspired one
adopted under Morsi in 2012.The Islamists, who boycotted the vote,
described it as a farce and predicted it would culminate in the sort of
massive electoral fraud that characterised Hosni Mubarak's three-decade
rule, ended by the Arab Spring uprising of 2011.A coalition led by
Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood called for further protests.Two men were
killed in Cairo and another in clashes in Fayoum, southwest of the
capital Friday, the health ministry said, as police clamped down in what
has become a weekly ritual in a massive crackdown on pro-Morsi
protests.In Cairo's Alf Maskan area, demonstrators aimed fire works at
police, who scattered for cover when they heard bursts of automatic
gunfire from the protesters' side.
A policeman fired an assault rifle in the protesters' direction.
The interior ministry said police arrested 123 suspected protesters
in Cairo and other cities.The government hoped that a large turnout
among Egypt's 53 million registered voters would bolster its democratic
credentials and further marginalise the Islamists.
Preliminary tallies reported by state news agency MENA suggested
turnout had reached 39 percent in most provinces, sharply up on 33
percent registered in the Morsi-era referendum just over a year ago.
Army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the man who toppled Morsi, was
closely monitoring the turnout as an indicator of support for a
presidential bid later this year, military officials said.'Fools'
celebrations'The government said the vote showed support for Morsi's
overthrow.
“This was also a referendum on June 30,” said government spokesman
Hany Salah, referring to the day when millions of protesters took to the
streets demanding that the president resign.The run-up to the vote was
marred by arrests of activists who campaigned against the constitution.
“There was no real opportunity for those opposed to the government's
roadmap or the proposed constitution to dissent,” said monitoring group
Democracy International, which observed the referendum.
The group said its monitors witnessed security forces and campaigning
material inside polling stations, but there was “no evidence that such
problems substantially affected the outcome of this referendum.”
The government will still have to contend with near daily protests
and a militant campaign in the restive Sinai that has killed scores of
policemen and soldiers.For the second time in a month, suspected
militants in the restive peninsula blew up Friday a gas pipeline that
feeds into an industrial zone.
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