(Image Source: The New York Times ) BY JOHN O’CONNOR ANCHOR NEVILLE MILLER Egyptian state media says the government of Egyptian President Mohammad Morsi has approved legislation re-imposing martial law for the first time since former leader Hosni Mubarak was ousted from power. But according to the New York Times , Morsi has not actually issued the order yet. “But even if merely a threat” the measure’s preparation suggests an escalation in the political battle between Egypt’s new Islamist leaders and their secular opponents [of] an Islamist-backed constitution. The standoff has already threatened to derail … Egypt’s promised transition to a constitutional democracy … ”  According to Al Jazeera , the opposition party says current draft is biased and has refused to attend talks that were scheduled for Saturday. “Egypt's main Islamist parties on Saturday rejected opposition demands to delay the referendum on a new constitution they helped draft … ” but the secular opposition says it will not meet until Morsi “…first cancels a December 15 referendum on a controversial draft constitution and rescinds decrees granting him immunity from any oversight.”  As opposition leaders refuse to continue working toward a referendum, protests in Cairo have intensified and even become deadly, prompting the Egyptian military to release this statement to the media … “Dialogue [is] the best and only way to reach consensus. The opposite of that would drag the country into a dark tunnel with catastrophic results. The statement warned that this would not be tolerated.”   According to the Washington Post , Morsi says the imposing of martial law would give the military the power to arrest and detain protesters in order to quote “protect vital institutions.”