"The Egyptian regime, backed by the army, has made great efforts to boost the turnout of a referendum aimed at ensuring that President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi remains in office until 2030."
The newspaper's correspondent Magdy Semaan said in his report that the voters were transferred to the polling stations, and provided parcels and food vouchers in the working class, to cope with the effects of disappointment and fatigue, which they throw from going to the polls.
The paper said that this referendum is the third to conduct constitutional amendments since the revolution that ousted former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in 2011.
| Some Egyptians want Sisi to remain in power for life (Reuters) |
forever
The newspaper did not overlook the government's coverage of the referendum, which focused on the massive Sisi projects, such as the new capital outside Cairo, which Sisi says will create jobs and economic growth.
The Times attributed the Egyptian citizen Club Gharib (57 years) to say after voting at the polling station Mohammed Farid school in the Abdin district in Cairo that he "supports the amendments and does not mind that Sisi stay for life, because no one did the projects he did.
The polling stations closed at 9:00 pm on Monday, the last day of a referendum on constitutional amendments that would allow President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to remain in power until 2030, strengthen his authority, expand the role of the army and establish a Senate (a former parliamentary chamber).
It would also make the President control the appointment of chairpersons and the Attorney-General from among a group of candidates proposed by those bodies.