Egyptian businessman Naguib Sawiris sparked renewed interaction with his followers through posts and discussions about democracy during the Muslim Brotherhood’s rule in Egypt, considering that the group destroyed it.

The story began with a post in which Sawiris expressed his “admiration” for the “progress” in Turkey over the last 15 years after a recent visit. One of his followers responded: “Oh man, if only you had let the democratic process run smoothly… we would have been on the right path long ago. But what can we say? You and your group ruined us and the country,” referring to the year of Brotherhood rule before the 2013 revolution ousted them.

Sawiris replied to the post, saying: “Your group (the Brotherhood) brought democracy and then abolished it…”

Sawiris responded to another follower who asked: “What is the evidence of the abolition of democracy during the Brotherhood’s era?” He replied: “The constitutional declaration that Morsi issued for himself and the intimidation of the opposition.”

Days ago, Sawiris posted a surprising condolence on his X platform account for the Brotherhood leader Essam El-Erian, who died in 2020. His followers responded that the news was from five years ago and sparked reactions due to the stance on the Muslim Brotherhood.

Sawiris reposted a tweet about Essam El-Erian’s death dated August 2020, commenting: “May God have mercy on him and bless him, my sincere condolences to his honorable family.”

Sawiris replied to a commenter who told him the news was years old, “The news is from 5 years ago, Naguib Pasha, take care,” to which the Egyptian businessman replied that he had not noticed the timing, saying: “I honestly didn’t know… May God have mercy on him… There was affection between us despite our differing views.”