CAIRO: Egypt’s vote on a divisive draft charter will take place in two rounds, its electoral commission said, after the army urged President Mohamed Morsi and his opponents to meet on Wednesday over the crisis.

Cairo’s presidential palace and surrounding streets were calm after a mass demonstration calling for Morsi’s ouster, condemning the Muslim Brotherhood and opposing the draft constitution approved last month by an Islamist-dominated panel.

The charter has pitted Islamist allies of Morsi against secular-leaning foes in rival rallies that clashed last week, killing several people and wounding hundreds more.

The electoral commission decided to hold the vote in two separate, regional rounds on December 15 and 22, rather than one nationwide poll on Saturday, state television said.

The expatriate vote began with the polling of more than 500,000 Egyptians at embassies and consulates in 150 countries, official news agency MENA said.

Armed Forces Chief and Defense Minister General Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, on Tuesday, called for Morsi and the opposition to meet as rival rallies numbering tens of thousands took to the streets in what are becoming daily mass protests.

Troops and tanks deployed on Tuesday outside the presidential palace in Cairo—the scene of the Egyptian capital’s worst violence since before Morsi’s election in June.

Protesters partially destroyed metal and concrete barriers a short distance away from the palace on Tuesday, pouring through to protest peacefully. There were no clashes, however.

The prolonged crisis is also intensifying economic uncertainty.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday put on hold a $4.8-billion loan Egypt has sought to fill budget gaps it will face in the 2013-2014 fiscal year. The IMF had been expected to review the loan, which would have come with budget-cutting requirements attached, this month for final approval.