CAIRO — Egypt's new constitution was overwhelmingly approved in a referendum, state media reported Thursday, an expected victory that nudges army chief General Abdel Fattah El-Sisi ever closer to a bid for the presidency. The vote advances a transition plan the army unveiled after deposing Islamist president Mohamed Morsi last July. The next step is expected to be a presidential election for which Sisi, 59, appears the only serious candidate.Some 90 percent of the people who voted approved the constitution, state-run media reported. Al-Ahram, the state's flagship newspaper, said the constitution was approved by an “unprecedented majority”, citing early results. The constitution won wide support among the many Egyptians who backed the army's removal of Mursi. There was little trace of a “no” campaign as the state pressed a crackdown on dissent. Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood had called for a boycott, seeing the vote as part of a coup that deposed a leader freely elected 18 months ago and revived an oppressive police state. – Reuters
