Spokesperson for the Military Colonel Ahmed Ali released a statement late on Monday explaining a few points regarding the statement released earlier by Minister of Defense Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi.
The statement was released to respond to “what was said by several figures in different media, trying to characterize the military statement as a military coup” the statement read.
It explained that the culture and doctrine of Egyptian Armed Forces doesn’t allow for “coup”.
“We’ve dedicated ourselves to the people” Major Ahmed Shaalan, Office Manager of Army Spokesman, told Daily News Egypt. He added that the army had never attempted to stage a coup and that it was only protecting the will of the people.
“The military took to the streets in 1977, 1986 and 2011, it didn’t stage a coup. It always supported the will of the great Egyptian people and their hopes for change and reform” the statement continued.
It explained that the objective of Al-Sisi’s statement is to push all political groups to quickly find solutions to the current crisis and reach consensus to meet the demands of the people.
“We stress that the [ultimatum] statement is a response to the Egyptian street…the armed forces will not be a part of political [life] or governance and will not leave its role that is drawn by the authentic democratic thought emanating from the will of the people,” read the statement
The Military released a subsequent statement warning the people against those who impersonate military personnel.
The armed forces had released a statement at midday on Monday stating that the Armed Forces will implement a road-map for the country if the demands of the people are not resolved within 48 hours, which was seen as an ultimatum by many.
The presidency was scheduled to hold a press conference on Monday night, but was cancelled because of “continuing discussions between the presidency and several executive authorities, assistants and advisors regarding the developments on the internal arena,” a statement released Monday night explained.
