“Too many people expect wonders from democracy, when the most wonderful thing of all is just having it.” This saying by veteran US writer and commentator Walter Winchell applies to the scene in Egypt after constitutional amendments were approved in a landmark referendum this week. More than 14 million Egyptians, or 77.2 per cent of those who voted, approved the constitutional reforms intended to guide Egypt through new presidential and parliamentary elections within six months. “After the endorsement of the amendments by the majority of voters, the issue is resolved. This is democracy," said Diaa Rashwan, a political analyst at Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies. Rashwan thought that the huge turnout reflected the Egyptians' desire for democratic change, although religious factors were 'decisive'. "Most Muslims, led by the Muslim Brotherhood and Christians urged by the Church, flocked to the polls and voted ‘yes' and ‘no' respectively. However, no one took a minute to read the changes," Rashwan told the Egyptian Mail. He added that the final result of the referendum did not mean that the Islamists reigned over other political blocs. Rashwan added that allowing voters to cast their ballots in any polling centre by their ID cards helped raise the turnout, which hit 41 per cent of Egypt's eligible voters. Tamer Begato, a member of a judicial panel that drew up the amendments, said balloting in the forthcoming legislative polls would be by IDs not electoral cards. While most human rights groups and political powers, who had announced rejection of the amendments and called for a new constitution to be rewritten, said they would bow down to the majority's choice. Other activists, however, called for a protest on Friday. The Muslim Brotherhood, remnants of the formerly ruling National Democratic Party as well as Salafist groups welcomed the result of the vote, saying that Egyptians voted for 'stability and a speedy transition'. "Egyptians' will is respected for the first time in decades. It's a nascent country in democracy. Let's build it together with all other political groups," Mohamed Saad el-Katatni, a key Brotherhood figure said. The National Association for Change, a political bloc headed by the former chief of the UN nuclear watchdog Mohamed ElBaradei, an alternative parliament comprising former lawmakres, as well as the Revolution Support Front, a coalition of youth, urged Egyptians to protest on Friday against the already approved amendments. "These amendments revive the 1971 Constitution. This is a setback. Egyptians from all classes and leanings should reject it," read a joint statement by the three groups. The statement, a copy of which was e-mailed to the Mail, said the endorsed changes would create a dictator, whether Egyptians 'wanted or not'. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces reiterated that it would hand over power to civilians and return to the barracks after the country holds its first democratic elections later this year. “The military will not hold on to power. The council will issue a constitutional declaration soon with the amended articles to organise the elections,” said Yehia el-Gamal, the Deputy Prime Minister Monday. El-Gamal did not say whether the parliamentary elections would be held first or the presidential vote despite a previous commitment that the legislative vote will be held in September. The referendum, the first democratic test after the fall of long-serving President Hosni Mubarak, was commended by all local and international civil society groups, which monitored it. The US, European Union and several other countries congratulated Egyptians on the constitutional reforms, which are set to restore civilian rule in the most populous country of the Arab world.
