Free Republic

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptians overwhelmingly approved a new constitution by referendum, state media reported on Thursday, a widely expected outcome that nudges army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ever closer to a bid for the presidency. The vote advances a transition plan the military-backed government unveiled after deposing Islamist president Mohamed Mursi last July following mass unrest over his rule. The constitution won wide support among the many Egyptians who favored Mursi's removal. The Muslim Brotherhood had called for a boycott, saying the vote was part of a coup that deposed an elected leader and revived a brutal police state....

Early indications showed Egyptians approved an Islamist-drafted constitution after Saturday’s final round of voting in a referendum despite opposition criticism of the measure as divisive. An official from the Muslim Brotherhood’s political party, which backs Islamist President Mohamed Mursi, said that after nearly 4 million votes had been counted there was a majority of 74 percent in favor of the constitution. Exit polls from the opposition National Salvation Front also showed the constitution passing, an official said. … (T)he opposition accuses Mursi of pushing through a text that favors Islamists and ignores the rights of Christians, who make up about...

It isn’t every day that the world gets to watch the birth of a new constitutional democracy. As the political drama in the land of the Pharaohs unfolds, the Western commentariat seems totally focused on the extent to which Egypt’s new constitution will be informed by Sharia law. Alas, nary a peep can be heard about a far greater threat to Egypt’s freedom and prosperity. The drafters of the new Egyptian constitution are blessed with having the history of two centuries of constitutional democracies to study. Evidence abounds on what works and what doesn’t, of which economic policies lead to...

Muslim Brotherhood claims to be in lead with 56 percent of “yes” votesRights groups call for repeat of votes as counting “took place in darkness”120,000 army troops deployed to help the police protect polling stationsEgyptians voted narrowly in favor of a controversial new constitution yesterday amid accusations of widespread ballot box violations. … Representatives of the seven (rights) groups charged that there was insufficient supervision by judges in Saturday’s vote in 10 of Egypt’s 27 provinces and independent monitors were prevented from witnessing vote counts. The representatives told a news conference that they had reports of individuals falsely identifying...

As voting on Egypt’s constitution begins, an Associated Press story this morning by Aya Batrawy and Sarah El Deeb typifies how the U.S. press is only nibbling around the edges of its content. The headline reads “EGYPTIANS VOTE ON ISLAMIST-BACKED CONSTITUTION.” In the story’s content, the pair found an 23 year-old Egyptian engineer who told them, in their words, that “he felt the proposed constitution needed more, not less, Islamic content,” and expressed a belief that “All laws have to be in line with Shariah.” Nice misdirection there. As Andrew McCarthy, “arguably the most important prosecutor in the War on...

Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court has said it is halting all work indefinitely in protest at the "psychological pressure" it has faced.Islamist protesters earlier prevented the judges from meeting in Cairo to rule on a draft constitution.The supporters of President Mohammed Morsi wanted to block any ruling that would question the document's legality.The court said that Sunday was "the blackest day in the history of Egyptian judiciary".Sunday's developments are the latest in an unfolding confrontation between President Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood supporters on one side, and his mainly secular political opponents and the judiciary on the other.Mr Morsi adopted...

Following are excerpts from an interview with US Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, which aired on Al-Hayat TV on January 30, 2012. Ruth Bader Ginsburg: It is a very inspiring time - that you have overthrown a dictator, and that you are striving to achieve a genuine democracy. So I think people in the United States are hoping that this transition will work, and that there will genuinely be a government of, by, and for the people. [...] I met with the head of the elections commission. I think that the first step has gone well, and that elections...

Video at Link.