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SV Women enter polling station
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SV Women voting
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SV Other people receiving cards
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SV Man marking card & placing into box
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SV Instruction poster
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SV Woman handing over paper & gets voting card
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SV Woman placing card into box
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SV EXT. University
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SV Shafei arrives & examines voting paper
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SV Shafei shakes hands with officials & chats (3 shots)
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Initials SGM/2337 SGM/0000



Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: Egyptians have given a near-unanimous vote in favour of a new permanent constitution designed to sweep away abuses of personal freedom and substitute a free society.

The constitution, drawn up on the orders of President Anwar Sadat, received 99.9 per cent backing in Saturday's (11 September) nationwide referendum according to Interior Minister Mamouh Salem.

SYNOPSIS: In the United Arab Republic on Saturday, Egyptians went to the polling stations to give 99.9 per cent support to the new permanent constitution designed to sweep away abuses of personal freedom and substitute a free society. The near-unanimous result was announced on Saturday evening by the Egyptian Interior Minister Mamouh Salem. The constitution, drawn up on the orders of President Anwar Sadat, is the country's first permanent one since the old laws of King Farouk were swept aside and the late President Nasser took control of Egypt. President Sadat has promised that the next step for the country will be a nationwide development programme which, he says, will remove the red tape from the Government and bring the thousands of scattered farm villages up to modern levels of health and education.

At El Azhar University, the Egyptian Vice-President Hussein El Sahfei arrived to cast his vote in the constitution referendum. The result will enable the emphasis on individual liberties to be hardened. The Egyptian Government has admitted that these have been abused on occasions during the 19 years of the revolution.

A cabinet shakeup is expected shortly and Prime Minister Mahmoud Fawzy will submit his formal resignation to allow clauses of the constitution to take effect.