CAIRO, December 13 - Egyptians living abroad headed to the ballot box on Wednesday to vote in a controversial referendum that has deeply polarized the country.
In Egypt, it now seems certain that the vote over the draft constitution that liberals claim “will undermine the rights of women and curtail civil liberties and religious freedom” will go ahead as scheduled on December 15. This is despite the wave of protests by leftists, liberals and opposition political forces and counter-rallies by President Morsi’s Islamist supporters in recent days.
Violent clashes between opponents and supporters of the draft charter that is being put to a popular vote erupted last week outside the presidential palace in Heliopolis. In total, 6 protesters died (two were Muslim Brotherhood members) and hundreds were injured. This violence was the worst since Islamist President Mohamed Morsi came to power. Several offices of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party were also torched by angry protesters.
On Tuesday, opposition activists again marched on the Presidential Palace to protest the draft charter, dismissing President Morsi’s calls for “calm and unity.” In a televised speech late Saturday he said that he was prepared to revoke an article in the constitutional declaration he issued two weeks earlier that gives him unchecked powers and shields his decisions from judicial review.
However, he stopped short of cancelling the referendum – a priority demand of the opposition activists who had been staging a sit-in in Tahrir Square since November 23. Morsi also called for a “national dialogue” with opposition political forces to defuse the political crisis.
The main opposition forces dismissed the President’s concessions as “meaningless,” and called on Egyptians to take to the streets “to stop the referendum on the constitution,” that was hastily drafted by an Islamist-dominated panel. Only a small group of politicians from non-influential opposition groups turned up for Sunday’s “reconciliation talks” at the presidential palace.
Former presidential candidate Selim el Awa, who attended the meeting, later said that cancelling the referendum would be “unconstitutional.” He added that if the constitution was not approved by majority consensus, the people would elect a new constituent assembly to draft a new charter.
El Awa's statement failed to quell the mounting anger on the streets. Opposition forces organized a rally on Tuesday afternoon outside the presidential palace. Despite the peaceful nature of the rally, an attack by unknown assailants on opposition protesters in Tahrir Square earlier the same day fuelled this anger. Nine protesters were injured when gunmen fired birdshots at them that same morning. The opposition activists outside the palace slammed Morsi’s decision to go ahead with the referendum, lamenting that he had “ignored their demands.”
Several hundred protesters tried to break down a cement barricade that had been erected by the army outside the palace a couple of days earlier. People were chanting “Erhal!” (“Leave!”) and “The people want the downfall of the Brotherhood Supreme Guide regime!”
Morsi's Islamist supporters held their own massive rally to express support for the President. They chanted "Constitution, freedom and Shariah Law," and "Morsi, you are a legitimate leader!"
The Islamist protesters insisted that a yes-vote in the referendum on the constitution would pave the way for stability. Much of these protesters’ anger was directed at opposition leaders Hamdeen Sabahy and Mohamed El Baradei who have been fiercely critical of Morsi since he issued his constitutional declaration last month. El Baradei told the German Der Spiegel that "not even the Pharaohs gave themselves the authority Morsi had given himself."
Morsi meanwhile responded by pointing to a "conspiracy led by opposition forces with support from former regime remnants" in his televised speech. The accusation caused an Egyptian independent TV channel to cancel a show in which Hamdeen Sabahy had been scheduled to appear immediately after Morsi's speech.
The Islamist protesters also angrily denounced the independent media for what they called “its clear anti-Islamist bias.” Islamists, most of whom support Salafi former presidential candidate Hazem Abu Ismaill, have been staging a sit-in outside Media Production City to object to “the vilification of Morsi and Islamist groups.”
Saturday's speech also drew mixed reactions from the judges. While senior State Council judges confirmed they would oversee the referendum, lower-ranked judges with the influential Judges’ Club remained defiant in their boycott of the vote.
On Wednesday, the Constitutional Court ruled to revoke a decision by Morsi appointing Talaat Abdalla Prosecutor General in place of the Mubarak-appointed Abdel Meguid Mahmoud. The ruling is a new challenge for Morsi, and threatens to further heighten tensions between the judges and the Islamist President.
Morsi had said he needed the legislative and judicial powers to purge state institutions of corrupt old regime loyalists including the judiciary whom he hinted were deliberately stalling the democratic transition. Egypt's military, which has been absent from the political landscape (at least upfront) since Morsi dismissed top army generals in August, warned of “disastrous consequences” if the political crisis is left unresolved.
The military called for a national dialogue between opposition forces and President Morsi to reconcile their differences. On Tuesday, the military again renewed their call for dialogue with the President in a televised appeal by Defense Minister General Abdel Fattah el Sissi. He invited all political forces, revolutionary youths and religious clerics from Al Azhar and the Church to Olympics City in an effort “to unify the ranks of all Egyptians.”
A military source on Wednesday said that the meeting had been postponed, but gave no further details.
The re-deployment of army tanks on the streets had raised concerns among many Egyptians that Egypt could be heading towards a military coup. Several political analysts and commentators had urged the army to take action after the recent unrest “to prevent the country slipping into civil war.” “Where is the army and why have the generals been quiet throughout the crisis?” was the frequently asked question in local editorials and in conversations at local cafes.
Morsi's call for the re-imposition of martial law until the referendum is over indicates that the army may have already decided to side with the Islamist President. The call drew a wave of criticism from rights groups. Human Rights Watch said Morsi should have cancelled military trials for civilians instead of allowing the arbitrary arrests and detention of civilians without charge.
With just two days left before the vote in Egypt, tensions are running high and there is no sign they will ease any time soon. While Morsi may win this battle over the referendum, he may have already lost the hearts and minds of Egypt's liberals.
For a President who won the election by a slim 51 per cent of the vote (with many voting for him simply because they did not want to reinstate a former regime man), the road ahead will likely still be bumpy. Morsi will need to work twice as hard to prove that he is the leader of all Egyptians and not just of the Islamists who voted him in.
Shahira Amin is an Egyptian journalist, the former deputy head of Egyptian state-owned Nile TV and one of its senior anchors.
