Major opposition bloc says President Morsi's decision to rescind controversial decree "falls short of expectations".
A major Egyptian opposition group has said that President Mohamed Morsi's decision only to rescind a decree that gave him sweeping powers and not scrap a referendum on a controversial draft constitution has "fallen short of expectations" required to defuse tensions in the country.
"One of our major demands is to postpone the vote on the constitution. Failing to respond to this will lead to more confrontation," a senior official in the National Salvation Front, a major opposition bloc, told the state-run news agency MENA on condition of anonymity on Sunday.
The president late on Saturday annulled the November 22 decree that also made all his decisions immune to judicial review, but insisted that a referendum on the draft constitution will go ahead as planned on December 15.
| Live footage: Egypt's army has started strengthening a protective wall around Morsi's presidential palace |
The opposition has repeatedly said that the constitution, drafted by a Muslim Brotherhood-led constituent assembly, disregards the rights of women and ignores personal freedoms.
"I cannot imagine that after all this they want to pass a constitution that does not represent all Egyptians," Ahmed Said, another member of the National Salvation Front coalition and head of the liberal Free Egyptians Party, told the Reuters news agency.
He said the Front would meet later on Sunday to make a formal response to Morsi's decision to scrap the decree.
He said the Front would meet later on Sunday to make a formal response to Morsi's decision to scrap the decree.
Selim al-Awa, an official who attended Saturday's meeting between Morsi and politicians from smaller opposition groups, said that, legally, Morsi was unable to change the date of the referendum on the draft charter.
He added that, if the draft is voted down in the December 15 referendum, Morsi would call for an election within three months to pick a new constituent assembly.
He added that, if the draft is voted down in the December 15 referendum, Morsi would call for an election within three months to pick a new constituent assembly.
Main opposition groups had boycotted the talks, which lasted over 10 hours, and called on their supporters to step up protests.
Annulment 'meaningless'
Khaled Dawood, the spokesperson for the National Salvation Front, said annulling the decree was "relatively meaningless".
"The key issue of securing the process of adopting of the constitution is done," he told Al Jazeera.
| Harvard associate professor Tarek Masoud tells Al Jazeera that the opposition's refusal of dialogue was an "error" |
Asked whether the opposition's goal was to unseat Morsi, Dawood said: "This is definitely not in our agenda at all. Our agenda is basically limited to having a new draft constitution that everybody is satisfied about before going to a referendum.
"We respect he was elected with 51.7 per cent of the vote, but 48 per cent did not vote for him. That means that he has to compromise, he has to build consensus."
On Sunday, a day after Morsi appeared to bow to political and public pressure, a wall is being built around his presidential palace.
The barricade blocks any attempt by anti-government protesters from reaching the palace gates.
Egypt has been hit by angry protests in the past two weeks to push Morsi to reverse his expanded powers and suspend the constitutional vote.
The crisis has been the country's worst since Morsi took office in June.
On Sunday, a day after Morsi appeared to bow to political and public pressure, a wall is being built around his presidential palace.
The barricade blocks any attempt by anti-government protesters from reaching the palace gates.
Egypt has been hit by angry protests in the past two weeks to push Morsi to reverse his expanded powers and suspend the constitutional vote.
The crisis has been the country's worst since Morsi took office in June.