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Cairo: Egyptians are voting in a referendum on a new draft
constitution that is promoted by its Islamist backers but rejected
by the secular and Christian opposition.
Saturday's referendum pits Islamist supporters of President
Mohamed Mursi who have clashed with their opponents in Cairo and
other cities ahead of the vote seen as a way out of a prolonged
political crisis.
Just over half of Egypt's electorate of 51
million will vote in the first round in Cairo and other cities, Al Jazeera reported.
Polling stations opened at 8am (0600 GMT) and
will close 12 hours later. Soldiers joined police outside polling
stations to secure the vote after deadly protests.
"The sheikhs
told us to say 'yes' and I have read the constitution and I liked
it," said Adel Imam, a 53-year-old queuing to vote in a Cairo
suburb. "The president's authorities are less than before. He
can't be a dictator."
The opposition says the constitution is too Islamist and tramples
on minority rights. Whereas, Mursi's supporters say the charter is needed
if progress is to be made towards democracy.
Egypt has been in
turmoil nearly two years after the fall of military strongman Hosni Mubarak, and Mursi's efforts to return the Arab world's
biggest nation to normalcy have been hampered by what the
opposition views as his autocratic tendencies.
In Alexandria,
where Mursi's Freedom and Justice party is based, tensions boiled
over into a street brawl between rival factions armed with clubs,
knives and swords.
Several cars were set on fire in Friday's
violence and a Muslim preacher who had urged people to vote "yes"
to the constitution was trapped inside his mosque by angry
opposition supporters.
Al Jazeera's Rawya Rageh, reporting from Alexandria, said there
was "brisk turnout" despite the violence and that security forces
were out in full force to ensure orderly voting.
"This is going to
be an important battleground to keep an eye on. Traditionally,
Alexandria used to be the turf for Islamic groups; key members
from the Muslim Brotherhood hail from here," she said.
In the
capital, Cairo, both sides made low-key final efforts to rally
supporters.
Flag-waving Islamists gathered peacefully at one of
the main mosques, some shouting "Islam, Islam" and "We've come
here to say 'yes' to the constitution".
Mike Hanna, reporting from
one polling station in Cairo, said the turnout was "massive".
"This is very significant. If this is extrapolated to other
polling stations around the country, moves to boycott this
referendum have fallen away, it would appear ... At this stage it
is easy to surmise that this is going to be a very close
referendum indeed," he said.
Opposition supporters - who have been urged to vote "no" by their
leaders - assembled outside the presidential palace.
The building
remains ringed with police, soldiers and tanks after street
clashes caused at least eight deaths earlier this month in
violence prompted by Mursi's decision to grant himself sweeping
powers in order to ram through the new charter.
The referendum
will be held on two days - this Saturday and next - because there
are not enough judges willing to monitor all polling stations
after some in the judiciary said they would boycott the vote.
Egyptians are being asked to accept or reject a constitution that
must be in place before a parliamentary election can be held next
year - an event many hope can steer the country towards stability.
The measure is generally expected to pass, given the
well-organized Muslim Brotherhood's record of winning elections
since the fall of Mubarak.
Many Egyptians, tired of turmoil,
may simply fall in line and vote "yes".
If the constitution is voted down, a
new assembly will have to be formed to draft a revised version, a
process that could take up to nine months.
Official results will not be
announced until after the second round, though it is likely that
details will emerge after the first round that will give an idea
of the overall trend.
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