Egyptians in UAE flock to polls for constitution vote

From the early hours of Wednesday morning, Egyptians arrived at the embassy in Abu Dhabi, many holding their country’s flag and cheering for Egypt.

Egyptians vote for the new constitution in the Egyptian embassy in Abu Dhabi. Mona Al Marzooqi / The National
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ABU DHABI // Egyptians jammed their embassy and consulate to vote on their nation’s new constitution on Wednesday.

From the early hours of the morning they arrived at the embassy in Abu Dhabi, many holding their country’s flag and cheering for Egypt.

One man went so far as to sleep in his car for six hours to ensure he was one of the first to vote.

While a few preferred not to disclose their vote, others were proud to announce they voted for the constitution to help the country move on, even though many were supporters of the former president, Mohammed Morsi.

Ibrahim Hassan, a former under secretary of the Egyptian ministry of housing, said he hoped others would join him in voting yes.

“The constitution holds full rights to all farmers, workers, everyone,” Mr Hassan said.

Although some of his family may vote against the constitution, he said it had nothing to do with them supporting the Muslim Brotherhood.

“They don’t support them,” Mr Hassan said. “They are just against the violence that happened in Egypt. I do not share their opinion.”

He said it was necessary that the military stepped in to control the country.

“I went for a 15-day planned holiday to Egypt to finish my business. It took me twice as long to finish a fragment of it,” Mr Hassan said.

“A 15-minute trip would take four hours because of the Brotherhood’s protest at Rabaa. This was terrible. The whole country was at a standstill and no one could move.”

He said he had voted for Mr Morsi because he did not want to see Ahmed Shafiq in power.

“I voted for Morsi because I wanted stability but he has no management skills at all,” Mr Hassan said. “The country needs management. It has the resources, it has the manpower, it just needs one leader.”

He rued having voted for Mr Morsi. Early signs, including the Muslim Brotherhood going back on its word and running for office, should have made it clear that it would not always be true to its word, Mr Hassan said.

“I hope [Gen] Abdel Fattah El Sisi runs for presidency. He can lead.”

Another voter said: “The constitution has the freedom rights we want.

After watching Mr Morsi’s term in office, he admitted that voting for him had been a big mistake.

“He broke all his promises,” the voter said.

Another man said he also voted for the constitution.

“I read it, it’s good. What’s important now is that it is followed,” he said.

He added, with some regret, that he had also voted for Mr Morsi as the lesser of two evils when the only other choice was Mr Shafiq.

“I thought he was a man of Islam, a man of religion, but it turns out he was nothing of that sort,” he said.

While a few citizens implied they voted against the constitution to protest against the overthrow of Mr Morsi, others said it was a protest against the current situation in Egypt.

One man said he was not against any political party but was for the people.

“The constitution covers all of them so I voted for the constitution, for peace,” he said.

Later in the day, Sheikh Ali Gomaa, former grand mufti of Egypt, made an appearance at the embassy, drawing cheers from the growing crowd who fought to get a glimpse of him.

Cheers for Gen El Sisi quickly erupted but just as quickly dissolved, as Egyptians were wary of the heavy security outside the embassy to ensure a smooth voting process.

In the UAE, 67,666 Egyptians are registered to vote with most of them – 37,382 – in Dubai.

“Many have expressed to me their happiness in voting yes to the constitution as it is the best one since 1971,” said Ehab Hamouda, the new Egyptian ambassador.

“Today is a democratic party for Egyptians.”

Voting will end on Sunday at 9pm.

osalem@thenational.ae