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Kerry Dismisses 98% Support for New Egypt Constitution as Just One Election and Not ‘Inclusive’
PJ Media ^ | January 18, 2014 | Bridget Johnson

Posted on 01/18/2014 4:15:03 PM PST by jazusamo

When millions of Egyptians wanted the Muslim Brotherhood leadership out, President Obama noted that Mohammed Morsi won his presidential post in an election.

When nearly 20 million Egyptians — more than 98 percent of votes cast — approved a new constitution to replace the one forged by Islamists, Secretary of State John Kerry said elections aren’t everything.

Egypt’s new constitution was written by a committee of 50 including women, Christians, one Salafist and one independent Islamist, while the last constitution was written by the Muslim Brotherhood and associated Islamists. The new document forbids “religion, race, gender or geography” from being the basis to form a political party while guaranteeing freedom of religion and granting, for the first time, Copts the right to build churches without permission of the president. Women are recognized as equals in Egyptians society.

Several people died in clashes surrounding the voting sparked by supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, who boycotted the vote. “Going to the polls was risky because of those who were trying to use violence to scare people from voting, but the army and the police exerted a great effort to protect the polls and to give assurance to the people who would like to vote…It was a phenomenon to see crowds of women at each poll, many of whom queued for hours to vote. Some of them were singing and rejoicing, and even dancing, before and after they cast their vote. There was a general spirit of joy among the people of Egypt who voted, in a way that never happened before. We, alongside other Christian denominations, encouraged the people of Egypt to fulfill their civil duty to vote and to pray for the future of Egypt,” Mouneer Anis wrote of the scene on the ground. “…Many voters carried the photos of Field Marshall al-Sisi, the Minister of Defense, in an attempt to persuade him to run for the presidency. This is because al-Sisi was the one who responded to the request of the millions of demonstrators on 30 June who called for early Presidential elections and the removal of the former President.”

But in a statement issued today, Kerry said it was just one vote and again called for inclusiveness — a refrain the administration has used since the Morsi overthrown in an effort to get the Muslim Brotherhood back into the political landscape.

“Egypt’s turbulent experiment in participatory democracy the last three years has reminded us all that it’s not one vote that determines a democracy, it’s all the steps that follow. It’s a challenging transition that demands compromise, vigilance, and constant tending. The draft Egyptian constitution passed a public referendum this week, but it’s what comes next that will shape Egypt’s political, economic and social framework for generations,” Kerry said. “As Egypt’s transition proceeds, the United States urges the interim Egyptian government to fully implement those rights and freedoms that are guaranteed in the new constitution for the benefit of the Egyptian people, and to take steps towards reconciliation.”

Kerry added that “the brave Egyptians who stood vigil in Tahrir Square did not risk their lives in a revolution to see its historic potential squandered in the transition.”

“They’ve weathered ups and downs, disappointment and setbacks in the years that followed, and they’re still searching for the promise of that revolution. They still know that the path forward to an inclusive, tolerant, and civilian-led democracy will require Egypt’s political leaders to make difficult compromises and seek a broad consensus on many divisive issues,” he said.

“Democracy is more than any one referendum or election. It is about equal rights and protections under the law for all Egyptians, regardless of their gender, faith, ethnicity, or political affiliation.”

Kerry said the U.S. government has “consistently expressed our serious concern about the limits on freedom of peaceful assembly and expression in Egypt, including leading up to the referendum, just as we expressed our concerns about the dangerous path Egypt’s elected government had chosen in the year that lead to 2013′s turbulence.”

He said they were using monitoring from the Carter Center and Democracy International to assess the fairness of the constitutional referendum and the “challenges ahead” including “Egypt’s polarized political environment, the absence of a fully inclusive process in drafting and debating the constitution ahead of the referendum, arrests of those campaigning against the constitution, and procedural violations during the referendum, such as campaigning in proximity to and inside polling stations and lack of ballot secrecy.”

“We strongly encourage the interim Egyptian government to take these concerns into account as preparations are made for presidential and parliamentary elections,” Kerry concluded. “The work that began in Tahrir Square must not end there. The interim government has committed repeatedly to a transition process that expands democratic rights and leads to a civilian-led, inclusive government through free and fair elections. Now is the time to make that commitment a reality and to ensure respect for the universal human rights of all Egyptians.”


TOPICS: Egypt; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: constitution; egypt; kerry; muslimbrotherhood
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To: jazusamo

Fraud is an idiot!


21 posted on 01/18/2014 4:46:24 PM PST by depressed in 06 (America conceived in liberty, dies in slavery.)
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To: Ray76

Still pushing for the Muslim Brotherhood.

Why is that?


Because 0bama can cut off funding to the Egyptian military that is rebuilding the country.

It seems clear that 0bama/Kerry want unrest and will bend over backwards to insure the “Brotherhood” attain social justice.

Understand, there is no such thing as “right or wrong” with this people.

To say someone or some group is wrong is discrimination in their minds.


22 posted on 01/18/2014 4:57:23 PM PST by Zeneta
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To: Zeneta

Operation Arab Spring is Obama building his caliphate.


23 posted on 01/18/2014 5:02:08 PM PST by Ray76
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To: Ray76
Still pushing for the Muslim Brotherhood.

Why is that?


At first it sounds crazy, but...

I can only surmise it is because the lunatic left, the loons who have posters of Mao and Stalin on the wall and who think we should all live in identical high rise apartments while most of the country is returned to wilderness (except them, of course; as elites, they will have...privileges...) and third world countries will be kept poor, underdeveloped, with sickness and hunger as a way of life forever. It's their vision of planetary perfection, and since it is their vision, it must be good... have allied themselves with the Islamists who want to return every last man, woman and child into spiritual slaves of Islam by tearing down the west and the international culture of individualism that is changing the world for the better by way of capitalism...

Yes, the loons would have us all croaked and dead by the hand of Islamist crazies if they believed they would achieve their dreams.
24 posted on 01/18/2014 5:04:00 PM PST by Nepeta
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To: jazusamo

Stoopid Egyptians, messing with the OPTICS and NARRATIVE of a story they aren’t supposed to be part of. /s


25 posted on 01/18/2014 5:06:23 PM PST by IllumiNaughtyByNature ($1.84 - The price of a gallon of gas on Jan. 20th, 2009.)
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To: Truth29

The US may not have many friends left, but real Americans have lots of friends.

I can’t believe 98% of the vote is being shrugged off as no big deal. Kerry makes himself look like a bigger idiot everyday, and I didn’t think that was possible given how low he already was.


26 posted on 01/18/2014 5:08:26 PM PST by Bulwyf
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To: jazusamo

I hate this POS administration.


27 posted on 01/18/2014 5:16:37 PM PST by Extremely Extreme Extremist (15 years of FReeping! Congratulations EEE!!)
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To: jazusamo
Somehow they (Kerry, Obama) think pushing the narrative of the Muslim Brotherhood as part of "civilian-led, inclusive government through free and fair elections" is a possibility...?

Either they are beyond stupid or think the rest of the sane world is...

28 posted on 01/18/2014 5:18:42 PM PST by Popman ("Resistance to Tyrants is Obedience to God" - Thomas Jefferson)
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To: Ray76
Still pushing for the Muslim Brotherhood.

Why is that?

It might have something to do with the joint venture that runs Barack Obama -- half Commie, half Muslim Brotherhood.

One dictates domestic policy, the other dictates foreign policy.

29 posted on 01/18/2014 5:19:34 PM PST by okie01 (The Mainstream Media -- IGNORANCE ON PARADE)
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To: Nepeta; Ray76

If you haven’t watched this video, well, you should watch it now.

Evan Sayet, at the Heritage Foundation a few years ago.

47 min. well worth it.

In this, the single most seen lecture in Heritage Foundation’s history — a talk Andrew Breitbart called, “One of the five most important conservative speeches ever given” — Evan lays the foundation for what would soon become known as the “Unified Field Theory of Liberalism” and how and why that ideology leads the Left to side only and always with evil over good, wrong over right, ugly over beautiful, profane over profound and the behaviors that lead to failure over those that lead to success.


You want to know why ?

You want to understand how liberals think ?

You want to develop tactics and strategies to beat them ?

You need to know how they think.

They don’t think or process information like you and I. They truly live in an alternate universe.

But they control the media and our educational system and the government bureaucracies that influence virtually everything.

It is controlled by a single, all be it false, idea.

Watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaE98w1KZ-c


30 posted on 01/18/2014 5:23:55 PM PST by Zeneta
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To: RaceBannon

This guy is going to start a war somewhere before this administration is over.


31 posted on 01/18/2014 5:25:10 PM PST by McGruff (I stand with Phil.)
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To: jazusamo

Kerry is full of BS.

They are running to cover the damage they have already done to Egypt. The Egyptians will not buy this baloney.

Nothing Lurch touches is of any substance. He was a traitor to the US in the 1960’s and is worse than being a traitor now. Because he supports the first Anti American POTUS.

Impeach Obama. Remove all the scum he brought to DC with him.

Heal our nation.


32 posted on 01/18/2014 5:26:53 PM PST by Texas Fossil
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To: Texas Fossil

The idea that a 98% vote is not decisive enough is ridiculous


33 posted on 01/18/2014 5:27:30 PM PST by GeronL (Extra Large Cheesy Over-Stuffed Hobbit)
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To: jazusamo
ACORN didn't have their say, you see.
34 posted on 01/18/2014 5:29:17 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum (Who knew that one day professional wrestling would be less fake than professional journalism?)
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To: GeronL
The idea that a 98% vote is not decisive enough is ridiculous.

Requiring voter ID suppresses the vote.

35 posted on 01/18/2014 5:29:58 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum (Who knew that one day professional wrestling would be less fake than professional journalism?)
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To: Texas Fossil

Couldn’t agree more...0bummer putting a traitor of the 60’s in as SOS confirms the occupant in the WH now is indeed a traitor.


36 posted on 01/18/2014 5:36:09 PM PST by jazusamo ([Obama] A Truly Great Phony -- Thomas Sowell http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3058949/posts)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

dipping their fingers in the ink is probably “divisive”.

lol


37 posted on 01/18/2014 5:43:15 PM PST by GeronL (Extra Large Cheesy Over-Stuffed Hobbit)
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To: jazusamo

This Constitution protects religious expression, particularly the Copts, Egyptian Anglican and Catholics. This from the Anglican Diocese of Egypt.

http://dioceseofegypt.org/2014/01/voting-dancing/


38 posted on 01/18/2014 5:46:12 PM PST by elpadre (AfganistaMr Obama said the goal was to "disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-hereQaeda" and its allies.)
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To: jazusamo; All

At the bottom of the webpage at this link are a number of video’s of the Egyptians actually standing in line to vote on the new Constitution. The videos are in Arabic, but this is one of those time when a picture is worth a thousand words.

http://www.emannabih.com/dear-international-news-agencies-imbeciles/


39 posted on 01/18/2014 5:48:37 PM PST by Texas Fossil
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To: jazusamo

40 posted on 01/18/2014 5:53:02 PM PST by Texas Fossil
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