Recent constitutional amendments have left a constitutional vacuum in the country
Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who carried out the coup d’état in 2013 against Egypt’s first freely elected civilian President Muhammed Morsi, consolidated his power further with a snap referendum held in late April. Although many analysts and observers cast doubt on the figures related to the popular vote, according to Egypt’s election commission, the turnout was 44.33%, and 88.83% of voters approved the constitutional amendments, extending al-Sisi’s rule until 2030 and increasing his sphere of influence over both legislative and judiciary bodies.
Eight years after a pro-democracy uprising that ended the autocrat Hosni Mubarak’s three-decade rule, these changes are considered by analysts as a headlong plunge into autocracy, in which freedoms are being restricted, the opposition is being harassed and a climate of fear is being created.
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