Salaam
Yes, there's no doubt western powers are trying to create a base of support to push through ideologies that they approve of. They are heavily backing the secular liberals among many others. (eg. UK is using the British Council as a cover to further its interests).
Media coverage was poor (to be expected), opposition are given lavish coverage, yet I barely saw any coverage given to the Muslim Brotherhoods point of view.
Not to mention that the vote was 'politely' trashed before it even got started.
Having said that this is an important milestone in the battle for Egypt's soul, however there is a very very long way to go. The secular liberals wont stop and will continue to undermine the constitutional settlement, and if that doesn't work they might try to undermine the economy to ensure 'good behaviour' from President Morsi.
Building Egypt up from the ground up will be tough, but Insha'Allah you will do it.
Thought this was an interesting editorial from the (secular-liberal) Guardian.
Egypt: building on sand
The irony of having won this particular constitutional battle is that Morsi has emerged from it with weaker powers
Not all founding fathers are as fondly remembered as America's. The three men who carved up the Soviet Union in Stalin's hunting lodge in Belovezhskaya forest are not today revered as scions of a new order. Egypt's constitution, which appeared to have been passed on Sunday by 64%, has also had a turbulent birth. The result itself came from a low turnout and there were claims of election fraud. The crisis started when Egypt's Islamist president, Mohammed Morsi, awarded himself the power to push through a draft that had not been agreed, prompting a stream of resignations. He said it was to stop the constitutional court from declaring the whole exercise null and void, but the judiciary revolted as a result. Clashes between rival armed groups ensued: up to 2 million Christians voted against the referendum and some leaders called for the president's removal. If this is a victory, it has been a costly one. The revolutionary unity seen fleetingly in Tahrir Square has been shattered.
Mr Morsi was accused of behaving like a military dictator, but the irony of having won this particular constitutional battle is that he has emerged from it with weaker powers. Under the terms of the new constitution, he cannot interfere with any judicial appointment but only sign the names offered to him by the supreme judicial council. His legislative powers revert to the upper house of parliament, the Shura council, pending the elections of the lower house. This is loaded in favour of the Islamists and Mr Morsi will struggle to make it more representative even by nominating more members of the Coptic orthodox, Catholic and Protestant churches to it, as he did on Sunday. But he has promised to put amendments to the controversial articles of the constitution to the first session of parliament, if agreement can be reached between the major political parties.
In his wish to speedily install a new order, Mr Morsi cut corners, at times dangerously. His emergency decree overriding all judicial oversight was cast much too wide. Verbal violence soon became physical after a tent encampment outside the presidential palace was broken up violently. The opposition claimed they were beaten, detained and tortured. The Muslim Brotherhood insist they were shot at hours later. These scenes were a disaster for a president who has vowed to represent not just Islamist Egypt but all Egypt.
The polarisation is not likely to lessen with these results. Despite the low turnout, the Brotherhood will claim 64% as a decisive victory. Mr Morsi has seen his vote go up in some areas of the country that voted for his rival Mr Ahmed Shafiq in the presidential election. For the secularist and liberal opposition, and many outside observers, the most telling statistic was the low turnout. It means the grand foundational text of the new Egypt is only actively supported by about one in five of the electorate. The decision of Egypt's Coptic church to call for a no vote, at a time when the imams held back, is a sign of deep tensions. After such a decision, it becomes easier to characterise the polarisation as a religious one. Such a result might add weight to the view that the conflict was not about an Islamist constitution, but about two very different visions of society: a defined identity-based project to see a more Islamised Egypt; and a more pluralist vision of a democracy, with multiple identities. But the problem is also a practical one. No one behaved as if they wanted to build a pluralist society. The art of compromise was not much in evidence. Mr Morsi started out with the intention of creating a broad tent involving minorities – but that approach also depended on the ability to keep everyone inside that tent. The last few months have made that increasingly difficult. The one hope is that this result encourages both side to fight the parliamentary elections .
President Morsi's task is now clear. It is not to entrench the divide but to reach across it to all Egyptians, Christian or Muslim, secular or religious, liberal or conservative. Mr Morsi will have only established a constitution worthy of the name when that happens.
http://www.guardian.co.uk
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