Egyptian constitution amendments 'passed by landslide'
Controversial amendments to Egypt’s constitution were approved overwhelmingly by voters, the government said today.
However, the vote was boycotted by democracy reformers and the country’s largest opposition group.
Turnout for the vote was low – 27% – but the ’yes’ vote was 75.9%, said Minister for Justice Mamdouh Marei.
Egyptians are likely to regard the figures with considerable scepticism as many polling stations were virtually deserted for hours in the capital, Cairo, Egypt’s biggest city.
The country’s leading rights group, the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights, estimated that only 2-3% of the electorate had voted five hours before polls closed.
