Egyptian Deputy Prime Minister Ziad Bahaaeddin said on an interview with CNN Monday that Egypt had deviated from the "proper path to democracy," linking the deviation to ousted president Mohamed Morsi's tumultuous year in power.

The deputy prime minister is on a visit to Washington to shore up ties between the two longstanding allies and attend the US Chamber of Commerce's US-Egypt Business Council, state news agency MENA said on Monday.

 “Egyptians are suffering,” Bahaaeddin said in the interview. “But let’s make no mistake about this: Egyptians are suffering as a result of the policies that were adopted particularly during the year of the reign of ex-president Morsi.”

Morsi, the country's first freely-elected president, was ousted by Egypt's army amid mass protests against his one-year rule. The toppled leader, who had been held incommunicado since his removal in July, made his first public appearance in court on Monday, along with other Islamist co-defendants, on charges of inciting violence.

The deputy prime minister blamed the state of affairs on the toppled leader, saying that during Morsi's troubled one-year rule "freedoms began to be taken" and "the constitution was no longer upheld."

"We need to keep our eyes fixed on not continuing in that road, and as quickly as possible, as strongly as possible, going back to a proper path of democracy," Bahaaeddin urged.

Bahaaeddin stressed on the necessity for swift progress, adding that "We should expect some things to happen the right way, some things [to] take more time, some things to be bumpy – but at the end what matters is whether we are progressing in the right direction, and I think we are."

Egypt has been gripped by violent turmoil since the popularly-backed ouster of the president affiliated to the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's oldest and most influential Islamist organisation. Hundreds have been killed in street violence and thousands of Islamists jailed, including senior Brotherhood leaders.

A moderate voice in the interim administration, Bahaaeddin has been attempting to prompt the interim authorities and the Brotherhood towards a compromise. An initiative he presented to the cabinet in August called for an immediate end to the state of emergency, the political participation of all parties and the preservation of human rights, including freedom of assembly.

On CNN, Bahaaeddin urged all political players in Egypt not to lose sight of "what is essential" to the people, which he said included an "economic recovery and the preservation of the democratic path."

As he reiterated his calls for an inclusive political process that embraces "various political parties," the senior official clarified that "those who committed crimes" would be excluded, in reference to Brotherhood members currently facing multiple charges of incitement to violence.

Bahaaeddin further elaborated that Egypt must "ensure that the youth who have entered politics, perhaps on good faith, who have lost their way along the path, are not left out.”

Asked about a draft protest law that has stirred severe censure across the country's political spectrum and amongst rights groups who said it restricts the right to freedom of assembly and grants security forces free reign, the senior minister noted he still saw "signs of progress."

A meeting between civil society, party representatives and government officials – including Bahaaeddin – concluded with the attendees' recommendation to shelve the controversial draft law until parliamentary elections are held and the legislative body is in place to pass it. Accordingly, the government announced it will reconsider the draft protest law and work on amending it. 

Ongoing talks between the government, civil society and political parties to improve the law, Bahaaeddin said, have shown that "the capacity to dialogue, compromise and move forward is there."