01/15/2014, 00.00
EGYPT - ISLAM
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Second day of voting for new Egyptian constitution. Yesterday, 9 dead

State media applaud the high turnout, the Muslim Brotherhood claim instead a low turnout and continue their boycott. The referendum is a vote against the fundamentalism of the Brotherhood.

Cairo ( AsiaNews) - Egyptians are voting for a second day on the referendum on the new constitution drafted after the fall of the Islamist President Mohamed Morsi . The military and the interim executive are urging people to vote, the Muslim Brotherhood, now branded as a terrorist organization, is calling for a boycott and the return of Morsi .

According to the Al Hayat television, reporting statistics from the Minister of Justice , "over 50% " already voted on the first day. Instead a spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohammed Soudan, claims the majority of people are not going to vote .

The state media are all aligned in praising the "democratic celebration" of the vote.  But they are not alone with several common voters, interviewed by the media, pointing out that the new constitution, despite some flaws , is " better than Morsi's" , which only 36% of the population voted on last year.

The first day of voting began with relative calm. However, a bomb later exploded in the district of Giza, without claiming any victims. As a result , Morsi supporters clashed with police in several areas of the country: in Upper Egypt, Sohag , four people were killed in a shootout, four more died in clashes in Giza , one in the governorate of Beni Suef . The Health Minister also announced that three voters died of natural causes.

Several observers think that the turnout will be high because with the new constitution , the population wants to punish the Muslim Brotherhood for having introduced Islamic fundamentalist laws and for bringing the country to the brink of economic crisis.

 

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