Egypt's new constitution passes referendum vote

Egypt's constitution was passed with 63.8 percent voter support in the two-stage referendum that ended last weekend, the country’s national electoral commission said on December 25.

Around one-third of the country’s 52 million eligible voters cast a ballot in the poll, the president of the commission, Samir Abul Maati, told a news conference in Cairo.

The figures confirmed those given by President Mohamed Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, which had backed the new charter.

Abul Maati rejected opposition claims that fake judges supervised some of the polling – one of several allegations of fraud made by the opposition National Salvation Front after each leg of the referendum held December 15 and 22.

The charter – and Morsi's determination to hold the referendum without building consensus – provoked weeks of protests, some of which turned violent.

EGYPT'S DIVISIVE CONSTITUTION EGYPT - EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW Egypt's ElBaradei slams 'illegitimate' constitution EGYPT Egypt's opposition rejects referendum, urges protests EGYPT Egypt’s opposition urges ‘No’ vote in referendum

Before results were announced, Mohamed ElBaradei, one of the leading figures of Egypt's opposition,told FRANCE 24 the constitution was “intrinsically illegitimate” because it failed to guarantee basic rights to citizens.

The Front has said it will not cease its struggle, raising the prospect of prolonged instability in the Arab world's most populous nation.

(FRANCE 24 with wires)