Egypt’s Morsi calls for Dec. 15 referendum on constitution

“I tell my opponents before my supporters, help me to carry out this responsibility you bestowed upon me in managing the country’s affairs,” Morsi said.

He called for a national dialogue to discuss the “concerns” of the nation.

Opponents of Morsi’s decision and the charter had held massive rallies over the last week, and several hundreds are holding a sit-in in Tahrir, the epicenter of the uprising that forced former President Hosni Mubarak to step down last year. They had conditioned their participation in a national dialogue on Morsi rescinding his decrees, which they said gave him near-dictatorial powers.

In an immediate reaction to the referendum date, prominent democracy advocate Nobel Peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei, who is a member of a coalition of opposition leaders, said on his Twitter account that Morsi put to a referendum a constitution that “undermines basic freedoms and violates universal rights. The struggle continues.”

The opposition announced plans for an intensified street campaign of protests and civil disobedience and even a possible march on Morsi’s presidential palace to prevent him from holding a nationwide referendum on the draft. It is not clear whether the opposition can rally enough voters to shoot down the constitution in a referendum or organize a boycott campaign.

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