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PERSPECTIVES | Egypt could have Abdel Fattah el-Sisi as its president for another 11 years. After Egyptians approved major constitutional changes —giving the president and military greater powers. However, the referendum is being criticized by human rights groups. Our Mohammed Al-Kassim has the story.
Story:
Almost 90% of Egyptian voters supported a referendum to back constitutional changes that would allow President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to stay in power until 2030, the election commission said Tuesday.
National Election Authority head Lashin Ibrahim told a Cairo press conference that 88.83 percent voted "yes" for changes that could keep Sisi in power until 2030, with 11.17 percent voting "no".
With almost 27 million votes cast out of an eligible base of 61 million voters, the turnout rate was 44.33 percent, the election chairman added.
The three-day vote took place "in a democratic climate powered by freedom," he added.
The rushed election sparked protests from rights groups who criticized the conditions surrounding the rushed vote, including the suppression of those opposing the sweeping changes that consolidate Sisi's power.
Parliament, stacked with Sisi loyalists, voted in favor of the constitutional amendments last week.
Voters were given less than a week to digest the changes to 20 articles, which include allowing the 64-year-old leader to run for another six-year term after his current term ends.
His term was originally scheduled to end in 2022, but has now been extended to 2024.
Other controversial amendments include boosting Sisi's control over the judiciary and giving the military even greater influence in political life.
The Egyptian leader won his first term as president in 2014, a year after he led the army in overthrowing elected Islamist president Mohamed Morsi following mass protests against his single turbulent year in power.
Standing virtually unopposed after the disqualification or withdrawal of all realistic challengers, he was re-elected in March 2018 with more than 97 percent.
The referendum also proposed other changes to the five-year-old constitution, among them the creation of a second parliamentary chamber and a quota ensuring at least 25 percent of lawmakers are women.
Opponents argued the main effect of the constitutional changes would be to solidify Sisi's grip on power in a country that has only become "more autocratic than it was under Mubarak," referring to Egypt's long-term ruler Hosni Mubarak deposed in the Arab Spring which ultimately led to Sisi's presidential ascension.
Proponents of the constitutional changes said they would bolster Egypt's economy and strengthen security.
