CAIRO – Egypt will hold a referendum on an amended constitution in December, the group drafting it said on Tuesday, Nov. 26, an important step in an army-backed roadmap meant to lead to elections.

Hours before the timing of the referendum was announced, protesters took to the streets in defiance of a law passed on Sunday requiring police approval for gatherings of more than 10 people. Police detained 28 people, the Interior Ministry said.

Egypt’s democratic credentials have been called into question since the military toppled the country’s first Islamist President, Mohamed Morsi, in July, following mass protests against his rule.

A committee of 50 members, with few Islamists, began work in September on amending the constitution that was approved in a referendum last year after being drafted by an Islamist-dominated assembly.

A female activist is pictured in front of riot police during a protest against a new law restricting demonstrations, in downtown Cairo November 26, 2013. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

“The referendum will be held before the end of (December),” Mohamed Salmawy, spokesman of the constituent assembly, said. That contradicts comments made by Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi who said on Sunday the referendum would be held in the second half of January.

The new constitution will guarantee the right to protest and ensure that demonstrations can be held if protesters notify authorities, rather than wait to be granted permission, Salmawy said, in an apparent effort to ease tension over a new law restricting demonstrations.

Army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who ousted Morsi, has promised the roadmap will lead to free and fair elections.

But the plan has not stabilized Egypt, where protests and attacks by Islamist militants based in the unruly Sinai Peninsula have hammered investment and tourism.

Human rights groups have condemned the protest law as a major blow to freedom in Egypt, the most populous Arab state and a U.S. ally that has experienced near relentless upheaval since autocratic ruler Hosni Mubarak was toppled by a revolt in 2011.

“(The) new protest law gives security forces free rein,” Amnesty International said.

Skirmishes broke out between security forces and protesters in downtown Cairo and police fired teargas and water cannon to disperse the demonstrations. They were marking the death of a liberal activist killed in clashes with police two years ago and expressed anger against the protest law.