Tens of thousands of protesters angered by Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi’s expanded powers and a much-criticized proposed constitution drafted by Islamists pressed toward the presidential palace Tuesday, December 4, The Los Angeles Times reported. The protesters at the palace gates provided the starkest sign yet of the country’s deepening political volatility. Morsi, who was at the palace working, left the compound in a convoy as the ranks of demonstrators began to swell. The Islamist president angered much of the country last month when he expanded his powers and rushed an Islamist-led constitutional assembly to draft a charter even as the nation’s highest court was expected to dissolve the body over questions of legitimacy. The draft will go to a national referendum Dec. 15, despite complaints that it is tilted toward Islamic law and does not protect civil rights and freedom of expression.