"Talk about early presidential elections is an absurd and illegal matter, which violates the law, constitution and the people's will,"he told the state-run newspaper al-Ahram in an interview published Friday.

His remarks come as a protest petition campaign is collecting nationwide signatures to withdraw confidence from Morsi and push for early presidential polls.

The self-styled Tamarod campaign aims to gather 15 million signatures, beating the 13.2 million votes that brought Morsi to victory in last June's presidential election.

The campaign said last week it had collected more than 7 million signatures and expects to reach the targeted figure before June 30.

"Expressing opinion peacefully does not worry me ... But using or inciting violence is unacceptable. We will not permit it," Morsi, who is Egypt's first democratically elected president, added.

Backers and opponents of Morsi have held in recent months rival rallies, which occasionally descended into clashes.