 |
| Map displaying provinces of Egypt as people votes on a new constitution [Image/gfx © google map] |
Cairo: Egyptians on Saturday begins voting in referendum on a draft
constitution, with no major violence reported.
The voting will see half of Egypt's 51 million electoral
heading to ballots for the controversial constitution. The next phase will take
place on December 22.
President Muhammad Morsi and his Islamic backers say the
document will push the nation closer to democracy nearly two years after the
fall of former leader Hosni Mubarak.
But opponents of the draft constitution -- including
liberals, secularists, and Christians - say the document is too Islamist and
hurts rights.
In Alexandria on December 14, there were clashes between
supporters and opponents of Morsi, some of them armed with clubs, knives and
swords.
The constitution and a Morsi decree -- now rescinded -- to
grant himself powers above the law have sparked Egypt's biggest crisis since
the toppling of Mubarak.
The Presidential Palace in Cairo is still ringed by police
and tanks after street clashes earlier this month there left at least eight
dead.
The vote on December 15 is taking place in 10 provinces,
including Cairo and the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria.