CAIRO — For the first time since the ousting of Egypt’s late Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in 2013, the Muslim Brotherhood announced that it would no longer seek to claim power should the regime of current President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi fall. In a very controversial statement, the organization announced that it will stop any political activity in the country and allow its members to engage in political action through other parties.

The organization’s statement, published on its official website June 29, revealed the Brotherhood’s new strategy in the coming period, based on coordination with leftist and liberal political forces inside Egypt, in a bid to free prisoners of conscience and overthrow Sisi's regime. This sparked controversy given the group’s history and its views on democracy as an alien system from the West.

“We believe the overall political workspace on national issues — the public rights of the Egyptian people, the nation’s overall issue — constitutes a wider arena for the Brotherhood's activities than the narrow party action and competition for power. At some stage, after the end of the military coup [led by Sisi on Brotherhood rule in 2013], we will act as a general national movement with an Islamic background, supporting the nation and practicing political life in its general framework,” the statement read.

The group admitted it “made mistakes during its time of rule.” The statement continued, “We conducted several internal reviews and underlined the mistakes we made during the revolution period and when in power. We also reviewed the mistakes by allies and competitors from the revolution’s components. These errors and disagreements gave leeway to the counter-revolution to take over.”