Eyes on Sisi as Egypt approves constitution with 98pc

CAIRO: Egypt’s new constitution was approved by 98.1 per cent, with turnout higher than in a 2012 vote under now ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, a senior government official said Saturday.
The turnout and landslide “yes” vote proved that Morsi’s overthrow was a “popular revolution,” another official told a press conference formally announcing the results.
The new charter replaces an Islamist-inspired one adopted in a December 2012 referendum under Morsi with about two-thirds of the vote and a 33 per cent turnout. Authorities say it protects women’s rights and freedom of speech.
Electoral committee head Nabil Salib said the turnout in the referendum Tuesday and Wednesday, which was boycotted by Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood and its Islamist allies, “reached 38.6 percent.”Of them, 98.1 percent of voters approved the new constitution.
Army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the general who ousted Morsi in July after massive protests, was monitoring the outcome for an indication of support for a possible presidential bid, military officials said.