Initial results from Egypt indicate that some 75 percent of the voters voted for the controversial referendum for the amendment of the constitution.
The referendum produced a very low turnout of voters. Egyptian Minister of Information Anas Al-Fiqi said the turnout stood between 23 and 27 percent, but the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights said it did not exceed five percent, according to the London-based daily Al-Quds Al-‘Arabi.
All major opposition groups, including Kifaya and the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) called on their supporters to boycott the referendum, claiming it was unfair.
The two movements protested against the referendum but were prevented by the police from reaching public spaces. Fifty demonstrators from Kifaya were arrested on Sunday night. The police, said Kifaya spokesman George Ishaq, prevented thousands of civilians from reaching downtown Cairo to protest the referendum.
United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also criticized the referendum, when she said last week she was "really concerned" about it. Rice implied it was not as democratic as Egyptians would have wanted it to be.
If approved, the draft law would give the police greater powers of arrest and surveillance. It would also make it impossible for the MB to present a presidential candidate on its behalf or to engage in any political activities, as the law would ban all political parties based on religion.
The MB is the most popular opposition party in Egypt. It won one-fifth of the parliamentary seats in the 2005-elections.