After watching from the sidelines as various Salafi groups lashed out at Telecom mogul Naguib Sawiris over his controversial tweet, the Muslim Brotherhood’s new Freedom and Justice Party has capitalized on the uproar as well. Mohamed Morsy, the leader of the Freedom and Justice Party, lashed out at Sawiris during a recent public meeting in Mansoura, a large city in the Nile Delta region. Morsy spoke mostly in general terms allegedly accusing Sawiris of “insulting Islam” with the tweet. Morsy also made clear that his comments were political and not aimed at Sawiris, because he was a Copt. Sawiris, a Coptic Christian, responded by filing a complaint against Morsy with the Egyptian prosecutor general.
The Free Egyptians Party (FEP), founded by Sawiris is the most credible liberal party in Egypt’s upcoming general elections. At Wednesday’s official launch of the party, the FEP came out swinging at the Muslim Brotherhood’s new FJP, accusing its rival of “political fraud.”
On Friday, fresh protests across Egypt showed that many Egyptians continue to seek expedited prosecutions of former members of the Mubarak regime. In Alexandria, the FEP took a visible role in providing tents wired with internet access to media covering the protests. In popular Egyptian political imaginations, Egypt’s second city is traditionally considered a Muslim Brotherhood stronghold. After initial reluctance, Muslim Brotherhood groups also joined in Friday’s nationwide protests to preserve revolutionary “unity.”
As for Mohamed Morsy, he has found himself embroiled in controversy in recent days after allegedly calling those who oppose his FJP party “zionists,” a statement that brought condemnation from various Egyptian political groups. While other members of the FJP, the official Muslim Brotherhood party, have rushed to deny that Mohamed Morsy ever used the “Z-word”. Mohamed Morsy himself has yet to comment on the issue.
