Essam al-Erian, vice chairman of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, criticized the provocative slogans used by some Islamists in Tahrir Square on Friday. Twenty-eight secular parties and coalitions, rejecting the slogans as well, decided to pull out from Tahrir in opposition to what they called the Islamists' hijacking of the protests with their own demands. The Freedom and Justice Party has formerly rejected these types of minority demands, and today is also rejecting the actions of Islamists trying to impose their vision on people, Erian wrote on Freedom and Justice Party website, adding that the party rejects dictatorship in all its forms. Some Salafi movements also used slogans and shouted demands that were not approved by the majority of political forces, breaking the agreement to unify their rhetoric during the Friday protest. Erian stressed that the slogans raised by some Islamists in Tahrir were "individual and emotional" demands that may have been reactions to some slogans raised by secular movements over the last few weeks. He added people need to be rational and more objective when demonstrating. "Egypt is now entering a new era of freedom, dignity and justice," he went on, calling on all Egyptians to unite in the national interest. Erian considered the 29 July protest to be a message to the military junta to hand over power to civilians. Each political group or party has a certain viewpoint on how to solve the country's problems, but the whole Egyptian population will decide who they will trust to manage their affairs, Erian said. Translated from the Arabic Edition
