[h=3]By MATT BRADLEY[/h]CAIRO—Voters passed Egypt's divisive new constitution by nearly 64%, Egypt's High Elections Commission said Tuesday evening, handing a major victory to Islamists even as the vote exposed their declining popularity.
Sami Abu Al Maati, the head of the commission, said 33% of Egypt's eligible voters cast ballots in the referendum, passing the Islamist-backed charter over the forceful objections of its secular-leaning opponents who worry that the document will lay the groundwork for an Islamist state.
In a press conference Tuesday night, Mr. Maati brushed aside the largely secular opposition's complaints that the vote had been rigged. Before the official announcement, opposition leaders had accused the Brotherhood of using widespread fraud during the vote and demanded an investigation, particularly into cases where impostors were thought to have filled in for judicial vote monitors.
In the weeks preceding the vote, liberal activists led protests against Brotherhood-backed President Mohammed Morsi and his strong-arm tactics to push the constitution through.
"It is going to pass, but it's really a sad day, in my view, for Egypt, because it is going to institutionalize instability," said Mohamed ElBaradei in an interview on PBS Newshour with Jim Lehrer that aired Monday night. Mr. ElBaradei, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former presidential candidate, leads the National Salvation Front, the lead opposition group.
"It is a very polarizing charter, and it defies a lot of the basic human values we live by, like freedom of religion, freedom of expression, independence of the judiciary," he said.
But if the official polling results gave Islamists a victory they have long savored, the fight over the constitution has also taxed Mr. Morsi and his allies' popularity just as politicians prepare for parliamentary elections set to be held within two months.
That election will be crucial: The new constitution leaves substantial room for legislators to define the character of Egypt's emerging government. Mr. Morsi is also waiting for a politically stable moment to impose a set of economic austerity measures, mostly in the form of tax increases, that will further test his popularity.
At the height of protests over his constitutional initiative earlier this month, Mr. Morsi delayed final negotiations over a $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund and withdrew a tax-rise package that had sparked protests even from within the Brotherhood's own ranks.
The Brotherhood is set to return to negotiations in mid-January, but some economic experts expect Mr. Morsi to delay a final IMF deal until after parliamentary elections.
Meanwhile, continued instability is pushing the economy toward collapse. Egypt is grappling with a skewed balance of payments that has piled pressure on the Egyptian pound.
The ratings agency Standard and Poor's cut Egypt's long-term sovereign credit rating to a "B-" from "B" on Monday, saying "political and social tensions in Egypt have escalated and are likely to remain at elevated levels over the medium term."
"Increased polarization between the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party and sections of the population is likely to weaken the sovereign's ability to deliver sustainable public finances, promote balanced growth, and respond to further economic or political shocks," the ratings agency said in a statement.
Within hours of the ratings change, Egypt's pound had dropped to an eight-year low of 6.18 pounds the dollar.
Tuesday's results add to mounting evidence of dwindling support for the Islamist politicians who emerged as voter favorites immediately following the revolution that ousted former President Hosni Mubarak nearly two years ago.
A month after Mr. Mubarak stepped down and yielded power to the military, the Brotherhood and other Islamists backed a raft of proposed constitutional amendments drafted by the military leadership. Egyptians passed the amendments by a 77% margin.
Since then, the Brotherhood's polling strength has declined. In parliamentary elections late last year and early this year, the Brotherhood and hardline Salafi politicians took about 72% of the seats. Judges dissolved the parliament several months after it sat.
The Brotherhood's fortunes continued to decline in presidential elections in June, when Mr. Morsi eked out a narrow 52% victory over a former regime loyalist.
Though the constitution won nearly two-thirds of the vote, the final result falls short of Mr. Morsi's own predictions that the constitution would pass by a large enough margin to shame opposition protesters that the Brotherhood had labeled little more than a vocal minority.
Each successive election has also seen a decline in voter participation that some analysts and government opponents say reflects withering confidence in Egypt's new political system. Whereas 41% of eligible voters cast ballots in March's referendum, only 33% voted this month.
This shows "a decline in faith in the process," said Mahmoud Salem, a liberal blogger who ran in last year's parliamentary elections. "This constitution showed that [about] 68% of the population didn't vote on it, which means that [about] 68% of the population thinks that the results are" not to be trusted, he said.
If the downward spiral continues, the Brotherhood and other Islamists could face a strong challenge from secularists buoyed by growing outrage over what they see as the Islamists' grasp for power.
The National Salvation Front, the political umbrella group that represents Mr. Morsi's opponents, pledged this week to help unify liberal political parties ahead of parliamentary polling.
Some secular citizens said that a digital video that was released Saturday on an Islamist group's website confirmed their worst fears about how Islamists plan to manipulate vaguely worded language in the new charter to impose Islamic law.
The video shows Yasser Al Burhami, a leader in the hard-line Islamist Dawa Salafiya group, boasting to a gathering of conservative Muslim leaders in late November over how the new constitution's definition of Shariah law will be used to "put restrictions on freedom of expression, freedom of creativity and freedom of belief."
The Salafi leader went on to criticize the new Coptic Christian pope, who recently voiced his opposition to the constitutional drafting panel. Christians joined dozens of secular-leaning delegates who walked out of the constitutional drafting committee to protest Islamist bullying shortly before the assembly completed the document last month. Coptics constitute more than 10% of Egyptians and represent the vast majority of Egyptian Christians.
"This is probably the first time in our history that the Christians were not present in writing the constitution," said Khaled Dawoud, an NSF spokesman.
Write to Matt Bradley at [email protected]
Sami Abu Al Maati, the head of the commission, said 33% of Egypt's eligible voters cast ballots in the referendum, passing the Islamist-backed charter over the forceful objections of its secular-leaning opponents who worry that the document will lay the groundwork for an Islamist state.
In a press conference Tuesday night, Mr. Maati brushed aside the largely secular opposition's complaints that the vote had been rigged. Before the official announcement, opposition leaders had accused the Brotherhood of using widespread fraud during the vote and demanded an investigation, particularly into cases where impostors were thought to have filled in for judicial vote monitors.
In the weeks preceding the vote, liberal activists led protests against Brotherhood-backed President Mohammed Morsi and his strong-arm tactics to push the constitution through.
"It is going to pass, but it's really a sad day, in my view, for Egypt, because it is going to institutionalize instability," said Mohamed ElBaradei in an interview on PBS Newshour with Jim Lehrer that aired Monday night. Mr. ElBaradei, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former presidential candidate, leads the National Salvation Front, the lead opposition group.
"It is a very polarizing charter, and it defies a lot of the basic human values we live by, like freedom of religion, freedom of expression, independence of the judiciary," he said.
But if the official polling results gave Islamists a victory they have long savored, the fight over the constitution has also taxed Mr. Morsi and his allies' popularity just as politicians prepare for parliamentary elections set to be held within two months.
That election will be crucial: The new constitution leaves substantial room for legislators to define the character of Egypt's emerging government. Mr. Morsi is also waiting for a politically stable moment to impose a set of economic austerity measures, mostly in the form of tax increases, that will further test his popularity.
At the height of protests over his constitutional initiative earlier this month, Mr. Morsi delayed final negotiations over a $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund and withdrew a tax-rise package that had sparked protests even from within the Brotherhood's own ranks.
The Brotherhood is set to return to negotiations in mid-January, but some economic experts expect Mr. Morsi to delay a final IMF deal until after parliamentary elections.
Meanwhile, continued instability is pushing the economy toward collapse. Egypt is grappling with a skewed balance of payments that has piled pressure on the Egyptian pound.
The ratings agency Standard and Poor's cut Egypt's long-term sovereign credit rating to a "B-" from "B" on Monday, saying "political and social tensions in Egypt have escalated and are likely to remain at elevated levels over the medium term."
"Increased polarization between the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party and sections of the population is likely to weaken the sovereign's ability to deliver sustainable public finances, promote balanced growth, and respond to further economic or political shocks," the ratings agency said in a statement.
Within hours of the ratings change, Egypt's pound had dropped to an eight-year low of 6.18 pounds the dollar.
Tuesday's results add to mounting evidence of dwindling support for the Islamist politicians who emerged as voter favorites immediately following the revolution that ousted former President Hosni Mubarak nearly two years ago.
A month after Mr. Mubarak stepped down and yielded power to the military, the Brotherhood and other Islamists backed a raft of proposed constitutional amendments drafted by the military leadership. Egyptians passed the amendments by a 77% margin.
Since then, the Brotherhood's polling strength has declined. In parliamentary elections late last year and early this year, the Brotherhood and hardline Salafi politicians took about 72% of the seats. Judges dissolved the parliament several months after it sat.
The Brotherhood's fortunes continued to decline in presidential elections in June, when Mr. Morsi eked out a narrow 52% victory over a former regime loyalist.
Though the constitution won nearly two-thirds of the vote, the final result falls short of Mr. Morsi's own predictions that the constitution would pass by a large enough margin to shame opposition protesters that the Brotherhood had labeled little more than a vocal minority.
Each successive election has also seen a decline in voter participation that some analysts and government opponents say reflects withering confidence in Egypt's new political system. Whereas 41% of eligible voters cast ballots in March's referendum, only 33% voted this month.
This shows "a decline in faith in the process," said Mahmoud Salem, a liberal blogger who ran in last year's parliamentary elections. "This constitution showed that [about] 68% of the population didn't vote on it, which means that [about] 68% of the population thinks that the results are" not to be trusted, he said.
If the downward spiral continues, the Brotherhood and other Islamists could face a strong challenge from secularists buoyed by growing outrage over what they see as the Islamists' grasp for power.
The National Salvation Front, the political umbrella group that represents Mr. Morsi's opponents, pledged this week to help unify liberal political parties ahead of parliamentary polling.
Some secular citizens said that a digital video that was released Saturday on an Islamist group's website confirmed their worst fears about how Islamists plan to manipulate vaguely worded language in the new charter to impose Islamic law.
The video shows Yasser Al Burhami, a leader in the hard-line Islamist Dawa Salafiya group, boasting to a gathering of conservative Muslim leaders in late November over how the new constitution's definition of Shariah law will be used to "put restrictions on freedom of expression, freedom of creativity and freedom of belief."
The Salafi leader went on to criticize the new Coptic Christian pope, who recently voiced his opposition to the constitutional drafting panel. Christians joined dozens of secular-leaning delegates who walked out of the constitutional drafting committee to protest Islamist bullying shortly before the assembly completed the document last month. Coptics constitute more than 10% of Egyptians and represent the vast majority of Egyptian Christians.
"This is probably the first time in our history that the Christians were not present in writing the constitution," said Khaled Dawoud, an NSF spokesman.
Write to Matt Bradley at [email protected]