The constitutional referendum will be held on its previously specified date of 15 December and the constitutional declaration issued by President Mohamed Morsy on 22 November has been largely canceled , Mohamed Selim al-Awa announced in a press conference following the conclusion of a "national dialogue" meeting on Saturday night. Awa, appearing with the eight other members of the committee who drafted the new constitutional declaration after the nearly nine-hour meeting's conclusion, said that the new constitutional declaration will be immune from judicial appeal. Morsy called the meeting on Saturday after a week of protests against the referendum and constitutional declaration and violent clashes between his supporters and opponents that killed at least seven. The new declaration, Awa said, would not remove judicial oversight of Morsy's decisions, but the president is still tasked with protecting the revolution and its causes, and his appointment of the new Prosecutor General Talaat Ibrahim Abdallah will stand. The new declaration also reaffirmed the retrial of figures responsible for protester deaths in the uprising against former president Hosni Mubarak and called for investigations into the deaths of those who were killed in last week's clashes in front of the presidential palace. In the original declaration, Morsy also stated that Mubarak regime figures would be retried for the deaths of protesters nearly two years ago in the 25 January uprising. According to the new declaration, if a majority of Egyptians vote not to the new draft consitution, then a new consitution-forming committee will be formed. The president announced earlier today that he would not be taking part in the meeting in order to ensure the neutrality of its conclusion. Speaking on the 90 Minutes program on the Satellite Mahwar channel on Saturday evening shortly before the press conference Prime Minister Hesham Qandil had said Morsy had "no objection" to delaying the referendum.
