Morsi to make U-turn on decree

A national dialogue committee on Saturday said a referendum on a disputed draft constitution in Egypt would be held on schedule, but added that President Mohammed Morsi had agreed to rescind the near-absolute power he had granted himself.

The statement came after a meeting that was boycotted by the main opposition leaders, who are calling for the December 15 vote to be canceled.

Morsi had called for the dialogue to try to defuse a spiraling crisis, but the decision appeared unlikely to appease the opposition since the committee recommends the referendum go ahead as scheduled.

Morsi's initial declaration was to be rendered ineffective anyway after the referendum.

Selim al-Awa, an Islamist who attended Saturday's meeting, said the committee had found it would be a violation of earlier decisions to change the date of the referendum.

However, it recommended removing articles that granted Morsi powers to declare emergency laws and shield him from judicial oversight.

Members of the committee said the president had agreed to the recommendations, but there was no official confirmation from Morsi.

The panel also said that if the constitution was rejected by voters, Morsi would call for the election of a new drafting committee within three months, a prospect that would prolong the transition.

The majority of the 54 members of the committee were Islamists, as well as members of the constitutional panel that drafted the disputed charter.

But the main opponents were not present at the meeting, which lasted over 10 hours

Critics were quick to argue that the committee's recommendations to rescind some powers were a "play on words" since Morsi had already achieved the desired aim of finalising the draft constitution and protecting it over the past weeks from a judicial challenge.

The charter, which would enshrine Islamic law and was drafted despite a boycott by secular and Christian members of the assembly, is at the heart of a political crisis that began on 22 November when Morsi granted himself authority without judicial oversight.

Opponents say the draft constitution disregards the rights of women and Christians.

The president insists his decrees were meant to protect the country's transition to democracy from former regime figures trying to derail it.