Egypt .. Parliament debates a law forcing citizens to donate "martyrs" of the army and police

Mohamed Abdullah - Cairo

The Egyptian parliament has become a step away from adopting a controversial law, as the Solidarity Committee in the Egyptian Parliament approved a draft law submitted by the government to amend some provisions of the law establishing a fund to honor martyrs, victims, missing persons, and injured war, terrorist and security operations and their families, issued by Law No. 16 of 2018, so that The government is allowed to deduct part of the salaries of government employees for the fund.

And security sources issued instructions last week to sites, newspapers, and satellite channels to ignore the news, and not to expand its handling or dealing with it in the minimalistic limits.

A media source and journalist told Al-Jazeera Net that the amendment of the article may provoke the wrath of many citizens by deducting part of their salaries every month, adding that some sites have deleted news related to discussing the amendment of the article or its approval.

Article (8) provides for deduction of a monthly percentage - five per ten thousand (pounds of every two thousand pounds) - from the salary of workers in public and private agencies, except for irregular or daily work, and the competent authority deducts this percentage from the salary, provided that the Ministry The finance is collected and supplied to the fund’s account.

The article also included that every student in the pre-university education stages perform a joint contribution of five pounds, and the value of this contribution for students in university education and beyond is ten pounds for each student.

The salaries of the army and the police have witnessed several increases since 2013, which aroused the anger of the Egyptians, and despite that, Parliament Speaker Ali Abdel-Al vowed to increase it again, indicating - through parliamentary statements - that "the police pensions need real reform."

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi expressed solidarity with the demands of increasing the salaries of the army and the police. During his attendance at the 30th educational symposium, “The amounts and salaries that the army and police officers take are very modest. If I tell you the numbers, you will be surprised, and the long life of the army and the police.”

The most important law
According to the government, the bill aims to enhance the resources of the Honoring Fund for the Victims of War, Terrorism and Security Victims of War, Terrorism and Security Operations and their families, through social participation, and raising awareness among state workers and others about their role in achieving the solidarity and social solidarity stipulated in the constitution.

According to the Chairman of the Solidarity Committee in the House of Representatives, Abd al-Hadi al-Qasabi, the law "Supporting the Families of Martyrs" is one of the most important laws that came out of Parliament, especially as it provided wide benefits to the families of the martyrs and the injured.

During his meeting with a youth delegation of the "Egypt Vision 2030 initiative to combat terrorism and sustainable development", Al-Kasabi said that the legislation provides broad privileges to the families of martyrs, whether at the level of educational grants, job opportunities, or even housing units, privileges and discounts in social clubs, and transportation, as a simple recognition What they did to this country.

He continued, "The committee was keen during the discussion of the law to support the families of the martyrs, that the privileges offered are the same as those that existed in the past. For example, the committee stipulated in the legislation that the martyr's children should enjoy the same educational level that existed before."

State policy
Parliamentary sources expected, in exclusive statements to Al-Jazeera Net, that the parliament would approve the amendment in order to support the fund, as an expression of Egyptians' solidarity with the families of the army and police victims.

In March 2018, the Egyptian Council of Representatives approved a bill to issue a law establishing a fund to honor martyrs, victims, missing persons, and injured war, terrorist and security operations and their families, with the aim of supporting and caring for them in all social, health, educational, and other aspects, and to pay the compensation due to them in accordance with the provisions of the law.

Since the start of the Egyptian constitution, the number of victims of the armed forces has reached 986, the number of injured 847 injured, and the Interior Ministry has reached 1123 victims, the number of injured 872 injured, a total of 2109 dead and 1719 injured, according to Al-Kasabi.

Legal and constitutional expert Muhammad Ali Al-Masry commented on the amendment of Article (8), saying, "It is absurd to consider this amendment as a legal view, because it is in line with a general policy that does not lay down the rules of law or the constitution, and this is not evidenced by the fact that the committee itself (the Solidarity Committee) A few days ago, I failed to pass the Disabled Persons Fund Law because of the objection to imposing a five-pound fee on parties and matches, gun licenses for the benefit of people with disabilities, and exempting the fund’s taxes from taxes.

He added - in a statement to Al-Jazeera Net - but from the constitutional point of view, despite the foregoing, the social solidarity stipulated in all constitutions of the world, and is considered to be one of the foundations of its articles; it is always matched by the principle of justice and equivalence, which is also an origin of its articles, then it is not (justice) Require all groups to (show solidarity) with a needy group, while these same groups cannot find support.

"If solidarity is directed to one group and not another, it has revealed that there is no solidarity in these legislations, but rather it is convinced by solidarity and its ugly face that bears the hallmarks of social imbalance and inequality, and here we ask: Are the residents of the slums, the handicapped and others not more precious in solidarity? Ratios of the military and police salaries in their favor ?!

New collection
Former Egyptian MP Osama Suleiman described the amendments of the article "by taxation," saying, "What is going on is the continued bleeding of the pockets of the Egyptians through various and renewed levies during the era of the Sisi regime, and the insistence that the masses of the Egyptians impoverish themselves for the ruling class."

He considered in statements to Al-Jazeera Net that these successive increases in the salaries and pensions of the military, police and judges are harmful to the Egyptian national security, because it increases the negative gap between the classes of society.

Suleiman did not rule out the enactment of such legislation to buy the loyalties of associates of the armed and interior forces in every way, even if at the expense of the pockets of simple citizens who receive low salaries, the authority refuses to deduct them.