Egypt goes to polls for referendum as chaos looms

An ever more divided Egypt went to the polls yesterday (Saturday) for the sixth time in less than two years, with political leaders warning of worsening chaos, instability and violence whatever the result.

For the first time the vote, a referendum on a new Islamist-oriented constitution, was overshadowed by direct and violent sectarian language.

Muslim Brotherhood leaders campaigning for a "yes" vote have accused the opposition of being stirred up by foreign money from the Gulf, remnants of the old dictatorship of ex-President Hosni Mubarak or, alarmingly, of being dominated by Coptic Christians trying to divide the country.

"A message to the Egyptian church from an Egyptian muslim: I tell the church by Allah, if you conspire and unite with the opposition to bring Morsi down, we will have another talk," one well-known, rabble-rousing preacher, Safwat Hegazi, told a crowd of cheering supporters last week. Mr Hegazi is close to the Muslim Brotherhood backers of President Mohammed Morsi, and they have not dissociated themselves from his views.

"We say, I say to the church: yes, you share this country with us, but there are red lines, and our red line is the legitimacy of Dr Morsi."

The referendum is to approve a constitution drawn up by an Islamist-dominated assembly at the end of November. The draft was rushed through in 16 hours after months of negotiations which saw most secular, liberal, leftist and Christian representatives walk out, saying their voices were not being heard.

It bans the use of torture and enshrines some basic rights. But promises of freedom of speech and freedom of religious belief are balanced by clauses banning "insults" against people or the prophets.

It also lays stress on preserving the "traditional Egyptian family", raising fears of religious supervision of private lives.

In the past fortnight, a series of rallies for and against the constitution culminated in running battles outside the presidential palace in which ten people, mostly members of the Brotherhood, were killed.

The heightened tensions were reflected outside polling stations.

Hostility to the president expressed by one voter in the poor neighbourhood of Imam al-Shafaie caused an eruption of argument among the surrounding crowd of black-clad, middle-aged women.

"I am illiterate and I'm not fully sure of the difference but I am voting 'no' because they say prices will go up and women won't be allowed out of the house - I'm not putting up with that," the voter, Laila Kedra, said.

Salwa Taha Ali, standing next to her, disagreed. "Everyone who loves Egypt should say yes," she said. "We want the country to be stable, to stand on its own two feet. But people are dying every day because of this division in the country."

But she was interrupted by a third, finger-wagging woman who said: "But who created the division? When Morsi speaks, he only speaks to the Muslim Brotherhood, not to the rest of the country."

With few reliable opinion surveys, the outcome remains unpredictable.

Anything less than a substantial majority for the "yes" campaign is likely to bring new accusations from the opposition that the poll lacks "legitimacy".

A boycott by most judges, in protest at the extra-judicial powers adopted Mr Morsi to push the constitution through, has complicated matters further.

The vote will now have to take place over two consecutive Saturdays, so that there are enough judges to act as monitors.

It has brought allegations that those judges who have agreed to take part are more likely to favour the Brotherhood. There were already allegations of voter fraud from the overseas polling stations, where voting took place during the week.