Cairo
Demonstrators have been in Tahrir Square all day to rally voters for tomorrow’s referendum to ratify six amended articles of the country’s constitution. The content of the particular amendments—including term limits on the presidency and qualifications for the executive office—is less significant than the political impact of the vote. This first of three scheduled elections (parliamentary and presidential to follow) to take place between now and September may be the most important of all. A “yes” vote ratifying the articles may mean that Egypt’s revolution is over—or that it was a Muslim Brotherhood-driven campaign from the outset.
Both the Islamists—the Muslim Brotherhood and other groups like the relatively moderate Wasat party and a newly formed party of younger Islamist activists named Nahda (or renaissance)—and the military are pushing for the yes vote. Some analysts have speculated that the Islamists are fearful that unless these amendments are passed, Article 2 of the constitution, which designates Islamic Sharia as the primary source of legislation, might come under scrutiny. It’s true that liberals, secularists and Christians all dislike Article 2, but as other analysts have noted, a referendum on Article 2 would lead to a conflict no one looks forward to, perhaps even civil war.
