Egypt had it's first truly democratic vote in... ever, this past Saturday. The vote was to decide about a proposed referendum to the existing constitution., and it ended up being an important litmus test for the new political scene...
The Ballot
YES: Accept the referendum, i.e. modify the old constitution with changes like limiting the presidential term to 2 terms of 4 years each, voting to be supervised by the court rather than the government, and emergency laws cannot be extended w/o referendum. This ballot also included moving the parliamentary elections from September to June.
This option was favored by people who want a constitution in effect sooner rather than later, and would compromise for a revised constitution. I was also favored by conservative parties who would have candidates ready to run in the parliamentary elections by June.
NO: Reject the referendum in favor of drafting a new constitution from scratch; Wait until September for parliamentary elections.
This option was favored by the young educated liberals who initiated the demonstrations in January, who want a new set of laws entirely, and who fear they would not have candidates ready to run for an election in June.
A few stats to consider...
Population of Egypt: ~80 million (last census - it's probably much higher than that because many of the poorer population do not have birth certificates)
Population eligible to vote: ~40 million
Percentage of eligible population that voted: 40% (about 19 million)
The Final Count
YES: 77%
NO: 23%
Ultimately, less than 4 million people actually voted to reject the old constitution entirely. The overwhelming majority of voters accepted the referendum and voted in favor of having parliamentary elections in June.
This was a major wake up call for the young educated liberals that started the demonstrations in late January. Apparently, many of them expected the vote to be pretty much split 50:50. Now they are realizing that the 18 days it took to overthrow Mubarak was just the first step. The real challenge now will be political activism, educating people and encouraging them to vote, learning to pull as much influence as the conservative parties do.
Some of my cousins were complaining that the conservatives must have used coercion to get that many people to vote in their favor. We said, "Bush was re-elected because of gay marriage and abortion rights. Coercion is part of the game."
Welcome to Democracy, Egypt. It's a wonderful thing, but it's also a bitch.
The Ballot
YES: Accept the referendum, i.e. modify the old constitution with changes like limiting the presidential term to 2 terms of 4 years each, voting to be supervised by the court rather than the government, and emergency laws cannot be extended w/o referendum. This ballot also included moving the parliamentary elections from September to June.
This option was favored by people who want a constitution in effect sooner rather than later, and would compromise for a revised constitution. I was also favored by conservative parties who would have candidates ready to run in the parliamentary elections by June.
NO: Reject the referendum in favor of drafting a new constitution from scratch; Wait until September for parliamentary elections.
This option was favored by the young educated liberals who initiated the demonstrations in January, who want a new set of laws entirely, and who fear they would not have candidates ready to run for an election in June.
A few stats to consider...
Population of Egypt: ~80 million (last census - it's probably much higher than that because many of the poorer population do not have birth certificates)
Population eligible to vote: ~40 million
Percentage of eligible population that voted: 40% (about 19 million)
The Final Count
YES: 77%
NO: 23%
Ultimately, less than 4 million people actually voted to reject the old constitution entirely. The overwhelming majority of voters accepted the referendum and voted in favor of having parliamentary elections in June.
This was a major wake up call for the young educated liberals that started the demonstrations in late January. Apparently, many of them expected the vote to be pretty much split 50:50. Now they are realizing that the 18 days it took to overthrow Mubarak was just the first step. The real challenge now will be political activism, educating people and encouraging them to vote, learning to pull as much influence as the conservative parties do.
Some of my cousins were complaining that the conservatives must have used coercion to get that many people to vote in their favor. We said, "Bush was re-elected because of gay marriage and abortion rights. Coercion is part of the game."
Welcome to Democracy, Egypt. It's a wonderful thing, but it's also a bitch.
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