CAIRO: The Egypt’s interior ministry has said that preliminary results of the two-day referendum on a new constitution showed that 95 percent of participants approved the constitution drafted by the military-backed interim government.
In a statement, Major General Abdel Fattah Othman, director of public relations for the interior ministry said that “Turnout so far may exceed 55 percent and the approval of the constitution is perhaps more than 95 percent.”
The referendum result could pave the way for the army chief General Abdel Fattah Sisi to announce his candidacy for president. If passed, the constitution will replace the country’s previous one, approved under former President Mohamed Morsi in December 2012.
The two-day referendum which ended on Wednesday evening was marred by violent clashes between security forces and protesters as at least 11 persons were killed and 28 injured in clashes.
Moreover, nearly 450 people, mostly Muslim Brotherhood supporters, were also arrested in the past two days.
The Muslim Brotherhood and its allies had called for a boycott of the two-day vote and anti-government protests.
