Iran Welcomes Egyptians' Participation In Constitutional Referendum

Tehran, Dec 24, IRNA -- Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Ramin Mehmanparast, in a statement released here on Sunday, congratulated Egyptian nation and government for the successful holding of constitutional referendum. 'Participation of people in constitutional referendum in Egypt was a big step towards the establishment of democracy and the rule of law in Egypt; the high participation of Egyptians in the referendum would give the Egyptian government, enough credit to achieve the revolutions' goals as well as the basic reforms.' Mehmanparast voiced hope that all Egyptian political groups respect the referendum and pursue their reformist demands within the framework of law. Egypt's newly-written draft constitution garnered about 64 percent of the votes in a two-round referendum. The unofficial data, collected by the Muslim Brotherhood which backs President Mohamed Mursi, suggested that about 71.4 percent who voted Saturday approved the constitution, while 56.5 percent of voters supported it in the first round of the voting on Dec 15. Egyptians voted 'yes' in both rounds with 51 percent and 64 percent of the total votes, respectively. It will be several days before the official results come out. When they do, a parliamentary election would be held within two months. Egyptians on Saturday voted in the second and final phase of the country's constitutional referendum which has sparked weeks of unrest. Saturday's vote took place in 17 of Egypt's 27 provinces with about 25 million eligible voters. People in the other 10 provinces cast their ballots for or against the new constitution last Saturday. Around 250,000 security personnel have been deployed nationwide to try to keep order during the vote. Egypt's fractured opposition, defeated at the ballot box by Islamists in each poll since Mubarak was overthrown in February 2011, unified their ranks after Mursi expanded his powers in a decree on November 22 to push through the constitution./end