Egypt president sets January 14-15 for constitution referendum

Egypt's interim president Adly Mansour announced here on Saturday a referendum on a recently drafted constitution will be held on January 14-15. Addressing a gathering of senior state officials, Mansour said: "I have taken a decree to call you for a referendum on a revised draft of the suspended constitution adopted in 2012 on January 14-15." A 50-member committee tasked with writing a new constitution had approved the draft earlier this month. "Our new draft constitution marks the fruit of a long constitutional development process in Egypt...which was launched in our country since the 20s of the 19th century," Mansour said. The interim president highly commended the draft constitution as a source of pride for all Egyptians and a correct launching point for building modern democratic state institutions. "This is truly a historic moment, a defining moment in our modern history. The constitution has not reached the degree of perfection... but it is a historically important breakthrough for the nation." The constitution vote will be the first major milestone on the political "roadmap" outlined by the Egyptian army after it overthrew Mohamed Morsi, the country's first democratically-elected president, on July 3.