Egypt's Brotherhood, '3rd Way' call for Saturday rallies

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, the group from which ousted president Mohammed Morsi hails, and the revolutionary "Third Way" movement appeared to find common ground this week, with both calling for mass Saturday protests against "military rule."

The Brotherhood-led National Alliance for the Defense of Legitimacy, Morsi's main support bloc, called for protests on Saturday to mark the passage of one year since both groups staged demonstrations – albeit separately – in the wake of Morsi's ouster by the military.

The "Third Way," a group of activists opposed to both the military and the Brotherhood, has also called for Saturday rallies to mark the first anniversary of its protests against "military rule."

The call for the rallies comes as the country's Wasat Party announced on Thursday that it has withdrawn from the National Alliance for the Defense of Legitimacy.

"The priorities of the current phase in resisting despotism require working outside the framework of the Alliance by establishing an umbrella [group] that welcomes political forces across the spectrum without exclusion," the party said in a statement.

Last year, supporters of the Brotherhood and the Third Way staged massive protests on 30 August – some two months after Morsi's ouster – against what they described as "the return of military rule."

It was the first time for both groups to stage rallies on the same day, albeit at different venues.

While supporters of the pro-Morsi alliance demand the ousted president's reinstatement, Third Way activists reject Morsi's return to power while calling on the army to "return to the barracks."

Security forces swiftly dispersed last year's protests, during which eight demonstrators were killed and 221 others injured.

In a statement issued earlier this week, the pro-Morsi bloc called for "a revolutionary wave" and a "partial labor strike" on Saturday – in advance of an all-out strike to be held later – to denounce last year's "military coup" against Morsi.

The Third Way, for its part, has called for demonstrations to commemorate activists slain during last year's clashes and reaffirm the group's commitment to "continuing the struggle."

"The martyrs fell in order to open a new path, which does not recognize illegitimate military rule," the group asserted.

Former army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, widely seen as the architect of Morsi's ouster and subsequent imprisonment last year, was declared winner of a presidential poll conducted in May.