CAIRO: Egyptians began voting on Saturday on a new constitution supported by the ruling Islamists but bitterly contested by a secular-leaning opposition.

Polls opened in Cairo, Alexandria and eight other provinces. The rest of the country votes on December 22.

President Mohamed Morsi cast his ballot in a polling station close to his presidential palace in Cairo, state television showed. He made no comment to the media.

Morsi’s determined backing of the charter triggered the power struggle with the opposition, which is backed by judges who accuse the Islamists of overreaching.

Weeks of protests preceded Sa-turday’s vote, sparking clashes by rival camps in Cairo last week that left eight people dead and hundreds injured.

In Alexandria, Egypt’s second largest city, the situation was calm the day after clashes between hundreds of opponents of the draft charter and Islamists that occurred when a cleric told worshippers at a mos-que to support the constitution.

Egypt’s vote will be staggered over two rounds to ensure there will be enough judges to monitor polling stations amid a rift within the judiciary over the referendum process.

The first round’s unofficial results are expected hours after polling stations close.

Morsi has ordered Egypt’s military to help police maintain security until the results are known. About 130,000 police and 120,000 soldiers are being deployed, Interior ministry and military officials said.

Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood has organized large rallies and a campaign in favor of the draft constitution.

The main opposition coalition, the National Salvation Front, mulled a boycott before instead urging Egyptians to vote against the charter, which rights groups say limits the freedoms of minorities and women.

The referendum was only made possible after Morsi assumed sweeping powers that stripped courts of the right to annul the Islamist-dominated constituent assembly that drafted the charter.

Morsi was forced to rescind his powers after mass protests outside his palace in northern Cairo led to the worst violence between the opposition and Islamists since his election in June.

International watchdogs, including the United Nations human rights chief, the United States and European Union, have expressed reservations about the draft because of loopholes that could be used to weaken human rights, including those of women, and the independence of the judiciary.

Analysts said that the proven ability of the Muslim Brotherhood movement to muster voters was likely—but not certain—to ensure that the draft constitution is passed.

 AFP