A constitutional referendum was held in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

on 14 and 15 January 2014 and with Egyptians abroad voting between 8 and 12 January. The new constitution was approved by 98.1% of voters. Turnout was 38.6%.

Background

President

Mohamad Morsi Mohamed Mohamed Morsi Eissa al-AyyatThe spellings of his first and last names vary. survey of 14 news organizations plus Wikipedia in July 20122013 Egyptian coup d'état. The timetable established by interim president

Adly Mansour Adly Mahmoud Mansour ( ar, عدلى محمود منصور ; born 23 December 1945) is an Egyptian judge and politician who served as the president (or chief justice) of the Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt. He also served as interim ...

envisioned a rapid transition, which initially entailed amending the suspended 2012 constitution. The process of amending the 2012 constitution began with a committee of 10 legal experts. The draft amendments by the committee of 10 made many notable changes to the text of the 2012 constitution. The committee of 10 completed their work on 20 August 2013. The second phase of the process included amendments by a committee of 50; those 50 people were announced on 1 September 2013.

Amr Moussa Amr Moussa ( ar, عمرو موسى, , Amr Muhammad Moussa; born 3 October 1936) is an Egyptian politician and diplomat who was the Secretary-General of the Arab League, a 22-member forum representing Arab states, from 1 June 2001 to 1 July 2011 ...

was chosen as the chairman of the committee of 50 on 8 September 2013. The draft constitution was given to President Mansour on 3 December 2013.

Campaign

Supporters

The Dignity Party backed the constitution. The

Free Egyptians Party ) , founded = , headquarters = 2 Hassan Sabry Street Zamalek-Cairo , membership_year = 2011 , membership = 100,000 , ideology = Egyptian nationalismLiberalismSecularism , position = Centre to centre-right , national = , affiliation1_ti ...

supported it. The

Socialist Popular Alliance Party The Socialist People's Alliance Party ( ar, حزب التحالف الشعبي الإشتراكي ''Hizb Al-Tahalof Al-Shaeby Al-Ishtiraky'', SPAP) is a leftist party in Egypt formed shortly after the Egyptian Revolution of 2011. Its membership ...

as well as the

Socialist Party of Egypt The Egyptian Socialist Party (''El-Hizb El-Ishtiraki El-Masri'') is a political party in Egypt which was founded by some Egyptian socialists after the 2011 Egyptian revolution. History and profile The party was founded on 18 June 2011 at a confe ...

also supported the constitution. The Popular Current had said that it supported the constitution. The

Nour Party ) , foundation = , newspaper = The New Light , headquarters = 601 Horrya Way, Zezenia, Alexandria , ideology = SalafismIslamismWahhabismMadkhalism , position = Far-right , colours = Blue, red, wh ...

said it would support the constitution.

Tamarod Tamarod ( ar, تـمـرد, tamarrud, "rebellion") was an Egyptian grassroots movement that was founded to register opposition to President Mohamed Morsi and force him to call early presidential elections. The goal was to collect 15 million sig ...

started a campaign on 5 December 2013 in support of the constitution. The Egyptian Trade Union Federation called on its supporters to vote for the constitution. The National Salvation Front said that it would call for a yes vote on the constitution. The

Egyptian Social Democratic Party The Egyptian Social Democratic Party ( ar-at, الحزب المصرى الديمقراطى الاجتماعى, al-Ḥizb al-Maṣrī al-Dimuqrāṭī al-Ijtmāʿī, ) is a Social liberalism, social liberal and a Social democracy, social democrati ...

voted for the constitution.

Opponents

Khaled Ali Khaled Ali (also spelled Khaled Aly; arz, خالد على, ; born 26 February 1972) is an Egyptian lawyer and activist. He is known for his advocacy for reform of government and private sector corruption and for promoting social justice and l ...

, a former presidential candidate, was opposed to the constitution; he stated that it was "inappropriate" for Egypt. The

Revolutionary Socialists The Revolutionary Socialists ( ar, الاشتراكيون الثوريون; ) (RS) are a Trotskyist organisation in Egypt originating in the tradition of 'Socialism from Below'. Leading RS members include sociologist Sameh Naguib. The organisatio ...

also expressed their opposition to it. The

Road of the Revolution Front A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

announced on 8 January 2014 that it would vote against the constitution. The Freedom and Justice Party and the Islamic Bloc, which had won 65.3% of the vote in Egypt's parliamentary elections in 2011–2012, opposed the new Constitution and the referendum as being the fruits of an illegal

military coup A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

Boycotts

The

Anti-Coup Alliance The Anti-Coup Alliance (also known as the National Alliance Supporting Legitimacy) is a coalition in Egypt formed to reverse the ouster of former president Mohamed Morsi. The coalition is made up of approximately 40 Islamist parties and groups. ...

, which includes the Muslim Brotherhood-linked Freedom and Justice Party, announced on 22 December 2013 that it would boycott the vote. The

Strong Egypt Party The Strong Egypt Party ( ar-at, حزب مصر القوية, Hizb Misr al-Qawia) is an Egyptian centrist political party founded in 2012 by former presidential candidate Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh. History The Strong Egypt Party was established i ...

and the

April 6 Youth Movement The April 6 Youth Movement ( ar, حركة شباب 6 أبريل) is an Egyptian activist group established in Spring 2008 to support the workers in El-Mahalla El-Kubra, an industrial town, who were planning to strike on 6 April. Activists calle ...

also indicated that they would boycott the vote. The Strong Egypt Party was initially going to mobilize for a "no" vote, but changed their stance after members of the party were arrested for having posters which supported the "no" campaign. According to the official results, turnout was 38.9%. Turnout in the constitutional referendum of 2012 had been 32.9%.

Conduct

, the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

and 27,000 observers were expected to monitor the referendum; judges affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood were excluded from supervising polling stations. According to

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

, 11 people were killed in the clashes on 14 January 2014. However, according to the

Health ministry A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their o ...

, 8 people died in the first day of voting and two people died in the second day of voting. In the weeks before the voting there were massive arrests of persons opposing the Constitution or the referendum.

Results

Voter participation was about 38.6 percent according to Egyptian government figures that were challenged by the Muslim Brotherhood, which had called of a boycott because the vote was taking place after a

. There were almost 20 million total votes in favor. The vote was held with support for a "yes" vote by the Egyptian government and state media as well as a crackdown on those against it. For comparison, about 16.7 million voters participated in the vote approving the constitution drafted under Morsi. This represented a turnout of 32.9 percent despite a boycott of the vote by non-Islamist factions. Of those that participated in that election, 63.8 percent voted for the Morsi-backed constitution, or about 10.65 million "yes" votes.

By governorate

Egyptian constitutional referendum 2014 Turnout

Reactions

* -

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

was the first president to congratulate Egyptians on the

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

as he asked the new Egyptian ambassador in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

to convey the best wishes to the Egyptian leadership saying: "We hope the Egyptian society will overcome current political and socio-economic difficulties and the country will return on the path of stability and growth." * -

Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan ( ar, عبد الله بن زايد بن سلطان آل نهيان; born 30 April 1972) is the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the United Arab Emirates. He is a son o ...

congratulated the Egyptian people saying: "The move is major milestone towards the roadmap for the future which will usher sisterly Egypt into the aspired stability and development." * -

Nouri Al-Maliki Nouri Kamil Muhammad-Hasan al-Maliki ( ar, نوري المالكي; born 20 June 1950), also known as Jawad al-Maliki (), is secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party and was the prime minister of Iraq from 2006 to 2014 and the vice president ...

congratulated the Egyptian people saying that the overwhelming support for the constitution shown in polls reflects the Egyptian people's strong will to reject violence and terrorism and strive for peace, stability and freedom.

References

External links

Egypt's constitution 2013 vs. 2012: A comparison
Al Ahram-English, 9 December 2013
English Translation of Egypt's 2013 Draft Constitution
Atlantic Council, 6 December 2013
The Draft in the media (Opinions)
{{2011–present Egyptian civil unrest

Constitutional referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

Egyptian constitutional referendum Referendums in Egypt Constitutions of Egypt Egyptian Crisis (2011–2014) Constitutional referendums in Egypt Egyptian constitutional referendum