1956 Egyptian referendum

Referendums on presidency and constitution Egypt 23 June 1956 5,859,000 94.01% yes Nasser for president Presidential 1958 Egyptian United Arab Republic referendum 1958 President Nasser.jpg Gamal Abdel Nasser Liberation Rally 5,499,555 99.90% President Gamal Abdel Nasser (as Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council) Liberation Rally Gamal Abdel Nasser Liberation Rally 1922thumb|right|Nasser casting his vote in the 1956 constitutional referendum A double referendum was held in Egypt on 23 June 1956. The two issues were the candidacy of Gamal Abdel Nasser for the presidency and a new constitution.Nasser's Egypt, Arab nationalism, and the United Arab Republic p67 Both were approved, with the official figures showing 99.9% in favour of Nasser's candidacy and 99.8% in favour of the constitution.Dieter Nohlen, Michael Krennerich & Bernhard Thibaut (1999) Elections in Africa: A data handbook, p340 0-19-829645-2 Background Before the vote, Nasser had been consolidating power after ousting Muhammad Naguib and launching a massive crackdown against the Muslim Brotherhood in 1954. Other opposition forces had been previously outflanked by the Liberation Rally, the official political movement of the state set up by the Revolutionary Command Council following the abolition of political parties in 1953. The Liberation Rally's purpose was to acquire mass support for the RCC across the country The press also endorsed and urged support for the referendums.Beinin, Joel. (1990). Was the Red Flag Flying There?: Marxist Politics and the Arab-Israeli Conflict. I.B. Tauris. p. 165. 9781850432920 Another chief contributor to Nasser's growing legitimacy was his charisma. The incumbent government chose a constitutional committee to pen the new constitution, although its members were picked by Nasser himself.Gordon, Joel. (1991). Nasser's Blessed Movement: Egypt's Free Officers and the July Revolution. Oxford University Press. p. 189. 9780195361568 Results The referendums were overwhelmingly supported by the electorate. According to government tallies, Nasser's bid for the presidency and the proposed constitution received almost unanimous approval by voters. Nasser ran uncontested,Brownlee, Jason. (2007) Authoritarianism in an Age of Democratization. Cambridge University Press. 9781139464468 nominated by the new ruling party, the National Union. Historian Kirk J. Beatie wrote the government figures were likely fictitious, but it is also "impossible to know how accurate they were."Beattie, Kirk J. (1994). Egypt During the Nasser Years: Ideology, Politics and Civil Society. Westview Press. p. 124. 9780813384542 Nasser successfully used the vote to promote himself as the protector of democracy, but according to author May Kassem, the vote "was utilized in an authoritarian manner" that only served to consecrate Nasser's rule.Kassem, May. (1999). In the Guise of Democracy: Governance in Contemporary Egypt. Garnet & Ithaca Press. p. 32. 9780863722547 The next year, the Liberation Rally was reorganized into the National Union (NU).June 2023 Conflicts with foundation date on National Union (Egypt) article Nasser for President 5499555 5267 3492 5859000 Nohlen et al. New constitution 5488255 10016 10043 5859000 Nohlen et al. References Egypt Referendum Category:Referendums in Egypt Category:Single-candidate elections Category:Constitutional referendums in Egypt Egypt Egypt