AFP/Cairo
Egypt’s electoral commission confirmed yesterday that a controversial, Islamist-backed constitution was passed by 64% of voters, rejecting opposition allegations of polling fraud.
Those official results tallied with figures given by President Mohamed Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood immediately after the last round of polling at the weekend in the two-stage referendum.
“There is no loser in this referendum result. This constitution will be for all of us,” Prime Minister Hisham Qandil said in a statement. He called on “all political forces to co-operate with the government” to restore the economy.
The National Salvation Front opposition coalition, however, has already dismissed the plebiscite as “only one battle” and vowed to “continue the fight for the Egyptian people.”
That sets the scene for continued instability after more than a month of protests, including clashes on December 5 that killed eight people and injured hundreds.
The US called on Mursi to work to “bridge divisions.”
“The future of Egypt’s democracy depends on forging a broader consensus behind its new democratic rules and institutions,” State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said in a statement.
“President Mursi... has a special responsibility to move forward in a way that recognises the urgent need to bridge divisions, build trust, and broaden support for the political process.”
Many creditors, investors and tourists have abandoned Egypt because of the volatility that has prevailed since the early 2011 revolution that toppled veteran leader Hosni Mubarak.
The International Monetary Fund this month put on hold a $4.8bn loan Cairo needs to prevent a looming currency collapse.
The rating agency Standard and Poor’s has downgraded Egypt’s long-term credit rating one notch to ‘B-’ because the “elevated” political tensions show no sign of abating.
Samir Abul Maati, president of the national electoral commission, told a Cairo news conference that a total of 63.8% of valid ballots supported the new constitution. Turnout was 32.9%.
He said opposition allegations of fake judges supervising some of the polling were unfounded, but he did say results from a few polling stations were annulled because they closed early.
The opposition, which seized on irregularities and the low turnout to challenge the legitimacy of the charter, appeared ready to accept the official results.
Front leader Mohamed ElBaradei, a Nobel Peace laureate and former chief of the UN atomic energy agency, admitted to the US network PBS on Monday that the referendum “is going to pass.”