The army has reinforced its presence at the presidential palaceOpposition leaders in Egypt are due to meet to co-ordinate their response to President Mohammed Morsi’s decision to scrap expanded powers – while sticking to a planned constitutional referendum.
Halting the referendum is a key demand of the opposition and some have already dismissed Mr Morsi’s latest move.
The president’s critics accuse him of acting like a dictator, but he says he is safeguarding the revolution.
His supporters are due to gather in the capital Cairo later on Sunday.
Strikes
The opposition National Salvation Front is meeting on Sunday before issuing a formal response.
Mahmoud el-Alayli, deputy secretary general for the Free Egyptians Party – a member of the NSF – told the BBC Mr Morsi needed to postpone the 15 December referendum on “this constitution which was prepared by an assembly whose legitimacy was and still is very questionable”.
If the president refused, the opposition would call strikes across the country, Mr Alayli told the Newshour programme.
“We are going to be on the streets in all the cities everywhere,” he said.
However, Mohamed Soudan, foreign relations secretary of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party, said President Morsi was constitutionally bound to go ahead with the vote.
The draft constitution was endorsed by a constitutional assembly dominated by Mr Morsi’s Islamist allies.
The army has built a wall of concrete blocks to seal off and protect the presidential palace, which has been the focus of opposition demonstrations.
The situation is as tense as ever, says the BBC’s Jon Leyne in Cairo.
Mr Morsi’s decree of 22 November stripped the judiciary of any right to challenge his decisions and triggered violent protests on the streets of Cairo.
Although the decree has been annulled, some decisions taken under it still stand.
The general prosecutor, who was dismissed, will not be reinstated, and the retrial of the former regime officials will go ahead.
The BBC’s Shaimaa Khalil: “This is a major sign of compromise on the president’s part”
Egypt’s powerful military has warned it will not allow Egypt to spiral out of control and has called for talks to resolve the conflict.
The president’s supporters say the judiciary is made up of reactionary figures from the old regime of strongman Hosni Mubarak.
But his opponents have mounted almost continuous protests since the decree was passed.
Several people have been killed in the recent spate of anti-government protests, and the presidential palace has come under attack.
The Cairo headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood, the movement to which Mr Morsi belongs, were set on fire.