FJP deputy sets conditions for dialogue

Freedom and Justice Party Vice President Essam al-Erian has called for dialogue on condition that those “who led the coup” admit their wrongdoings and reinstate deposed President Mohamed Morsi, in a video aired by Al Jazeera Sunday.

Erian, one of the few Muslim Brotherhood leaders not in custody, acknowledged the “dire need” for dialogue as the nation faces a crisis.

“We are in a path of a coup at a time when all nations have said goodbye to military coups,” he said.

He said the only way out is for everyone who contributed to the “military coup, which turned into a bloody coup with the massacres committed in Rabea al-Adaweya, Nahda Square, Ramses Square, Delga and Kerdasa,” to admit they were never democratic but took the side of one faction of society over another.

Speaking from an undisclosed location, Erian also said dialogue can only follow the release of all of the group’s detainees and the prosecution of those responsible for killing the group’s supporters.

He said dialogue will be based on Morsi’s roadmap, announced days before his ouster and which Erian says is “identical” to the one announced by General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on July 3 when he removed Morsi from office.

“The only difference between the two roadmaps is that Sisi’s dictates the ouster of Morsi and the suspension of the constitution,” he said. “Otherwise it’s identical to Morsi’s.”

In the video, Erian pointed to a “Zionist conspiracy against Egyptians’ will,” whereby the former embraced Sisi and his regime and warned the US and Europe against threatening the coup. 

Erian said he trusts that “Egypt will not go back to Mubarak’s era.”

“Egypt is not living a war on terrorism, it is living a war on Egyptians’ will,” he said.

Earlier this month, Erian was referred to the Cairo Criminal Court on charges of committing acts of violence in Ramses Square in July.