CAIRO: Egyptians living abroad will kick off voting on the country's controversial new constitution that was rushed through despite criticisms late last week. Egypt will vote on December 15 on the new charter document, which has led to an increase in tension over the future of the country after a number of major clauses, including freedom or religion and equality for women, were left out of the final draft that President Mohamed Morsi received on Saturday. Spokesman of Egypt's Foreign Ministry Amr Roshdi said that polling stations at embassies and consulates will be take voters from December 8 to December 11. President Morsi called for a referendum on the draft charter on December 15 amid ongoing outrage from liberals who oppose the assembly that wrote it. The elections committee will make available online ballots for expatriates who took part in the country's parliamentary and presidential elections, the state's news agency reported. Embassies will follow the same routine as last elections, including extending their work hours to 8 in the evening. The Egyptian Association for the Assistance of Juveniles and Human Rights added that Article 70 also does not prohibit child trafficking and sexual exploitation. The NGO decried the assembly's failure to specify the age of children in the charter, particularly when Egypt was one of the first signatories of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) which clearly declares anyone below the age of 18 as a minor. The minimum age for marriage set by the Personal Status Code in 2008 was 18, which is not the case under the new constitution. According to Amnesty International, Egypt's draft constitution does not shield minors from early marriage and permits child labor. Ultra-conservative Salafists – Islamic puritans – have been calling for the marriage age to be reduced, and under the new constitution, it could very well see the gross exploitation of the country's young girls. That is just one of the many clauses in the constitution, or not in the document, that activists have repeatedly told Bikyamasr.com that they are worried will push the country on a slippery slope toward Islamist rule.
