El-Erian warns of increasing polarisation in Egypt

Deputy Chief of the Freedom and Justice party Esam El-Erian said on Thursday that Egyptians are worried about political division, media polarisation and an increasing crisis in living standards.

El-Erian wrote on his facebook page that Egyptians have strong faith that the revolution which ousted former president Hosni Mubarak would continue until its key demands were achieved by the people and not the elite.

He said that the elite are those who had ruined the lives of the people in all fields as they do not feel the suffering of normal people. He affirmed that the will of the people is the only correct one and that the people have the right to peacefully protest and vote in free and transparent elections.

The member of the Egyptian Shura Council said that parliamentary elections are to take place soon after a decision by the Constitutional Court about exercising political rights and the parliament.

El-Erian wrote: “If the opposition wins the majority in the elections, it would share authority with the president. If they agreed on a plan in the interest of the country, the president would continue his term and if they do not, they would go to a referendum on either early presidential elections or new parliamentarian elections.”

He asserted that this is the democratic way that guarantees a safe and secure transition of authority and wondered why the opposition fears it. “Is it afraid of the people whose name it raises through its demands?” he asked. “Or is there another nation that we do not know of?”

The senior official wondered why they had been calling for the army to intervene in the civil affairs of the country when they had previously called for an end to its rein once describing its supreme leader as a “donkey”.