Egypt votes on new constitution

Polling stations have opened across Egypt as millions of voters in the Arab world's most popoulous country are set to vote in a constitutional referendum, the first ballot since the military overthrew Islamist President Mohamed Morsi.

Balloting stations, surrounded by heavy security presence, were receiving queues of citizens even before the two-day vote starts. The number of eligible voters in Egypt is estimated by government officials at around 53 million.

While turnout rate is hard to predict, a landslide victory of the army-backed charter is a given, and can spawn to a presidential bid by army chief  General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi who led the oust of the first democratically elected president.

The government has vowed "zero tolerance" against any bid to disrupt balloting, with about 200,000 security forces being deployed to protect polling stations, according to local media.

But two hours before the balloting started, a bomb exploded near a court in Giza's poor neighbourhood of Imbaba.

The attack, which has left no casualties, mirrors the state of violece that has recently gripped the country and exacerbated its worst political division in decades.

Campaigns promoting the charter have drowned out voices criticizing it, mostly from anti-coup protesters deeming the text to strengthen state institutions that defied Morsi: the military, the police and the judiciary. Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood has rejected the proposed constitution and vowed to boycott the referendum. 

Analysts say the referendum is also turning out to be a vote on the popularity of Sisi, the man whose image features on posters across Cairo.

His Islamist foes see Sisi as the mastermind of a coup that kindled the worst internal strife in Egypt's modern history and brought back what critics call a police state.

But many Egyptians are weary of the political upheaval that has gripped Egypt and shattered its economy since they rose up to topple autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011, and they view Sisi as a decisive figure who can reinstate stability.

If he runs for president, Sisi is widely expected to win.

The vote, set to take place through Wednesday, comes against the backdrop of weeks of violent clashes, which the military-backed government has blamed on Morsi's now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.

This will be the third time Egyptians have voted on constitutional arrangements since the historic uprising against Mubarak, a former air force chief, in January 2011, and overall the sixth time they have gone to the polls since his downfall.

The constitution will replace one signed into law by Morsi a little more than a year ago after it was approved in a referendum.

In a leaked audio recording Sisi addressed his handling of the new constitution. In an interview with al-Masri al-youm newspaper, which took place several months ago, he said the entire text should be rewritten, not modified.

He said simply modifying would be to cheat the system.