{{Judges in Egypt have refused to oversee a vote on the country’s new draft constitution, to be held in two weeks.}}
The Judges’ Club’s decision follows a confrontation between Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court and Islamist supporters of President Mohammed Morsi.
The court said it was suspending its work after its members were prevented from ruling on the legitimacy of the body that drew up the constitution.
Opposition groups called for protests against the referendum on Tuesday.
They said Mr Morsi had broken a promise not to call a referendum without gaining a wide national consensus.
“The National Salvation Front condemns the irresponsible act by the president of the republic in calling a referendum on an illegitimate constitution that is rejected by a large section of his people,” an alliance of opposition groups said in a statement.
The opposition believes that the draft constitution undermines basic freedoms.
The latest developments heighten the tensions between President Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood supporters on one side, and his mainly secular political opponents and the judiciary on the other.
Non-binding
Hours after the Supreme Constitutional Court suspended its work, the Judges’ Club, the union which represents the profession nationwide, said it had turned down the judges’ traditional role of electoral oversight for the referendum.
“We have decided to boycott the supervision of the referendum on the constitution scheduled for December 15, 2012,” the club’s head Ahmed al-Zind announced.
“This protest is in response to what is being called the ‘constitutional decree’ and until this decree is rescinded.”
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