Mohamed ElBaradei
The former chief United Nations weapons inspector and Nobel peace prize laureate has often seemed poised to play a leadership role but has repeatedly disappointed in the past. Often criticised for being out of touch, ElBaradei failed to stand for the presidency last summer because of his concern about the undemocratic way the military was then governing Egypt. Having founded the Constitution party, ElBaradei is said to be preparing to run for the presidency in 2016. He has been highly critical of Morsi's actions in recent days. Morsi should "see what is happening in the Egyptian street, the division, the polarisation", he said. "This is something that leads us to violence and worse."
Amr Moussa
The foreign minister under Hosni Mubarak, Moussa went on to be secretary general of the Arab League. He has kept his distance from the old regime, especially the military. During the 2011 uprising he supported pro-democracy protesters and was on the committee of "wise men" who acted as go-betweens with the former government. Moussa was seen as the front-running secular candidate in the first round of the presidential elections in May but was defeated. He now plays a leading role in anti-Morsi protests, describing the president's latest decisions as "a new massacre for the judiciary and defiance of the popular will".
Hamdeen Sabahi
As candidate of the left in the presidential election, Sabahi was knocked out in the first round. He founded the al-Karama (Dignity) party in 1996 after defecting from the Nasserite party. He was involved in the January 2011 demonstrations from the start and was injured while protesting. He complained last week that the Egyptian people were being "blackmailed to either accept decrees that they reject or suffer a constitutional void".
