The Armed Forces Committee of the National Consensus Conference, currently held at the Parliament offices, recommended that from now on military service should include both young men and women. In the words of the Committee’s recommendation: “Military service should be obligatory for both young men and women, because this is a necessity to put the energy of the nation’s young people at the disposal of the country’s development plans.”

“When the Armed Forces cover all of its fighting needs necessary to stand up to any foreign aggression, the surplus of young people from both sexes should be utilised to participate in implementing civil and development projects,” said the Committee’s recommendation. It added that “the drafting of young women and men in the army will help instil discipline and mobilise efforts aimed at raising productivity levels.” For this reason, the Committee added, “No one should be exempted from performing military service because this service is not confined to fighting activities only, but it also includes carrying out national development projects.”

On the other hand, the Committee stressed that “the new constitution should state that the army be responsible for safeguarding the country against coups aimed at disrupting the Supra-constitutional principles to be agreed by the nation as a whole such as preventing the republican system from being violated by forces and against attempts aimed at disrupting the civilian nature of the political system.”

The committee also stressed that the new constitution must state that all political forces are banned from possessing any kind of armed battalions.

In previous meetings, the Committee stressed that the army should be a main tool for preserving the civilian nature of the political system of Egypt. “This is necessary to prevent those trying their best to turn Egypt into a religious state from doing so,” said the Committee.

The Committee will submit its recommendations to the military council at the conclusion of its meetings next week.