CAIRO — On Dec. 15, 2012, exactly 10 days after I witnessed Mohammed Morsi's supporters kill and torture their opposition in front of the presidential palace as the police and military watched silently, the Muslim Brotherhood's constitution was put to referendum. It passed by 63%, as millions boycotted.
The total turnout back then was 16.7 million out of 52 million registered voters, and if half the boycotters had voted no to the constitution they harshly criticized it would have easily lost — a result that could have tamed the arrogant Muslim Brotherhood movement and steered the wheel of Egyptian politics, which six months later witnessed Morsi's military-backed ouster and the country's tough plunge into further chaos and strife.