Egypt votes on new constitution
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- More than seven out of 10 Egyptians say it's good to have the army rule, study says
- Support for Islamic law is falling in Egypt, but 30% of people there still favor it
- An increasing number of Egyptians want religion and politics kept separate
- The findings come from the Middle Eastern Values Study at the University of Michigan
More than seven out of 10
Egyptians say it is good to have the army rule -- a much larger figure
than that in Iraq, Lebanon, Pakistan, Tunisia or Turkey.
But at the same time,
more than a quarter support Islam's Sharia law, which makes the idea
more popular in Egypt than in Iraq, Lebanon, Tunisia or Turkey.
The numbers reveal the
depths of the divisions in a society that has seen revolution and, some
would argue, counterrevolution in the last three years.
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On Tuesday and Wednesday,
Egyptians are getting the chance to vote on the new constitution, in
the first national ballot since the army removed President Mohamed Morsy
from power in July.
He lasted less than a
year in the office, after winning the first democratic elections in
Egypt's history. Backed by the Muslim Brotherhood but unpopular with the
army, Morsy was toppled after large street protests.
But his supporters were
out in force this week in the run-up to the referendum, which the Muslim
Brotherhood has vowed to boycott.
A study of seven
countries across the Middle East reveals the splits in Egypt that are
driving the street protests on both sides.
The was a doubling in
support for democracy in Egypt in the decade before the Arab Spring
swept the country in early 2011, leading to the fall of longtime
strongman Hosni Mubarak.
About one in three (31%)
people said a good government makes laws according to the will of the
people in 2000, while two in three (62%) said so in 2011.
There was a drop in support for Islamic law in Egypt over the same period, although it was not as dramatic.
Nearly half of Egyptians
(48%) said in 2000 that a good government implements only Sharia law,
but by 2011, the figure had fallen to 30%.
Even so, support for
Sharia was higher in Egypt than in most other countries in the
seven-nation study by the Middle Eastern Values Study at the University
of Michigan. Only Pakistan and Saudi Arabia -- both legally Islamic
countries -- had higher levels of support for Islamic law as a basis for
civil law.
3 killed after police, Brotherhood clash
State of activism in Egypt
After the Arab Spring, there was a notable rise in the number of Egyptians who wanted to keep religion and politics separate.
Just under half (49%) were in favor of separation in 2011, while the number rose to 57% in 2012.
Egyptians were more
likely than other Middle Easterners to see the Arab Spring as being
motivated by a desire for freedom and democracy.
Nearly six out of ten
(59%) of Egyptians saw it that way, compared with 56% in Tunisia --
which also toppled a longtime ruler in 2011 -- 52% in Lebanon, 42% in
Pakistan and 36% in Turkey.
The Middle Eastern Values Study published its findings in a December report focusing mainly on Tunisia.
The report, "Changing
Values in the Birthplace of the Arab Spring," included detailed
comparisons between Tunisia and six other countries in the Middle East.
The Egypt data is based on a sample of 3,496 Egyptians in face-to-face interviews from June to August 2011.
And although Egyptians
supported military rule when they were asked to rate whether it was good
or bad, they backed democracy when asked to choose between rule of the
people and rule by a strong leader.
More than eight out of
ten (84%) of Egyptians said democracy was a very good political system,
while only one in 20 (5%) said it was very good to have a strong head of
government.
Egypt has been led by
strongmen with a military background for decades. Mubarak, a former air
force commander, ruled Egypt from 1981 until he was brought down by
street protests in 2011. His two predecessors, Anwar Sadat and Gamal abd
el-Nasser, also came from the military.
The tradition may continue.
Egypt's army chief, Gen.
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, said Saturday that he would run for President if
the Egyptian people wanted him to, state media reported.
