Free Republic

On Wednesday, Gen. Abdel Fatah Said Al-Sisi announced a military coup in Egypt. He said that the Constitution had been suspended, that early elections would take place, and that there would be a “code of ethics” for the media. He stated that the chief of the Constitutional court would be taking charge during a transitional period before another election. He said the new government would be “diverse and include all the people,” and that the constitution would be revised to reverse changes made by ousted Muslim Brotherhood President Mohammed Morsi.

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...

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...