Holding parliamentary elections before reaching a national consensus is irresponsible and inflames the situation, Mohamed ElBaradei, leading member of the oppositionist National Salvation Front, tweeted on Friday.

“Morsi's decision to go for parliamentary elections amidst severe societal polarization & eroding state authority is a recipe for disaster,” ElBaradei wrote on his Twitter account.

President Mohamed Mursi on Thursday issued a parliamentary decree calling for parliamentary elections on 27 April.

We are now headed towards the abyss because of the regime’s insistence on polarisation and suppression while administration, justice, and vision are absent, ElBaradei said.

The National Salvation Front on Tuesday put conditions for a national dialogue Mursi had called for.

The front added it will not contest the elections without guarantees for the integrity of the voting process and responses to the front’s demands.