Egypt increases the power of its military

Egypt's parliament on Monday passed an amendment to the 1968 law governing the formation of "people's forces" to assist the military in times of war, The National reported. 

The positive vote by the House means three amendments to the legislation. Firstly, it means that military personnel, active or retired, will be able to run for President and Parliament only with the approval of the army. This measure was admitted by the House Committee on Defence and National Security on Sunday, and comes after a bill submitted by the Government to amend some provisions of the laws concerning the participation of military personnel in political life, as reported by the Daily News Egypt. 

Secondly, it allows the Minister of Defence - currently Mohamed Zaki - to appoint "a military adviser and to designate a sufficient number of assistants for each of the country's 27 provinces", which unquestionably increases the power of the armed forces, as they now have access to local governance issues and can influence decision-making.

According to the publication, "under the new powers, the advisers appointed by Mr. Zaki will be responsible for monitoring services provided to residents and the progress of development projects," and will be able to report to the Ministry on any "serious danger that could undermine state security. Similarly, they will be empowered to coordinate with the provincial authorities and take "the necessary measures" to meet the nation's economic, social and cultural development objectives.

Thirdly, the renaming of the Ministry of Defence as the Ministry of War is also approved. In addition, the title "assistant military adviser" is replaced by "military adviser to the director of education" where it appears in the law.

However, the amendment passed by Parliament does not reflect the practical implementation of these measures, so it is still unknown, among other things, how the advisers would operate alongside the provincial governors. 

"The army, being the most powerful institution in Egypt, has assumed a commanding role in a wide range of fields since Abdel Fattah al-Sisi [it should be remembered that he was the general who orchestrated the coup against Mohamed Morsi] took office in 2014," explains analyst Hamza Hendawi in The National. Now, with "the direct supervision of al-Sisi, the army will oversee the mega-projects, including the construction of a new capital, a national road network and a dozen new cities," he details.

It is worth mentioning at this point that, last April, 90% of Egyptians approved in a referendum the constitutional amendments that opened the door to Al-Sisi's perpetuation in power until 2030. This vote also gave the green light to strengthening the role of the military with Articles 200 and 204, which stipulate that the armed forces "shall safeguard the constitution, democracy, civilian life, individual rights and freedom and maintain the foundations of the state". 

"The amendments expand the role of the military in judicial and political life and allow the military to decide what is democratic and what is not," constitutional lawyer Essam El-Eslamboly criticized at the time in Washington Report. An Egyptian human rights activist, Mahienour El-Massry, also complained that "civilian life should be protected by a set of laws and regulations, not by military authority in politics. 

In The North Africa Journal they recall, in this regard, that "the military is highly visible in Egypt's public life, with former senior officers now serving as ministers and heading governorates as well. The nationalist institution has a considerable business portfolio ranging from massive construction projects to more recently producing masks" to fight the spread of COVID-19 in the country, which has left more than 76,000 cases and 3,400 deaths. With the approval of the new text of the 1968 law, "Egypt is one step away from a total military takeover of the government," they have warned since that publication.

On Monday, Egypt's Minister of Military Production, Mohamed El-Assar, died at the age of 74 after a long struggle with cancer. El-Assar was considered "one of the most prominent government and military figures in the country", according to Reuters. He was also a "close ally" of President Al-Sisi. Under this combined command, "the military has expanded even more in the general economy and has signed trade agreements with foreign companies and countries," they explained in the aforementioned media.

Just a week ago, the Egyptian leader promoted him to honorary lieutenant general and awarded him the Nile Sash, the third highest award given to government employees, according to Egypt Independent. In a message posted on Facebook, Al-Sisi mourned his death: "Our beloved Egypt has today lost a statesman of unique style and great national courage," wrote the president, who also praised him as "a defender" of the homeland.