Parliament approved on Monday a new law that gives senior military more rights and political immunity.
The law, which is specified for senior military officers, passed with the approval of the majority of members of the parliament.
Only eight opposition MPs, out of 596, voted against it. Most of them where members of the 25-30 political coalition, which was threatened to be kicked out of the parliament for good by Parliament Speaker Ali Abdul Aal on Tuesday
The law stipulates that senior officers can be granted other privileges and can combine several privileges at the same time. It also says that senior officers are to be treated like former ministers and have the same privileges as ministers.
The law also grants senior officers the same status as diplomats during the process of traveling. It also secures them from being interrogated by any civilian judicial powers, unless there is permission from the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.
Since being sworn in as president, Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi has given several legal, political, and economic privileges to military personnel, one of which included increased pensions. Al-Sisi’s administration has taken a string of decisions often classified as austerity measures, such as increasing fuel prices and imposing income taxes on both resident and non-resident Egyptians on their commercial, industrial, and professional activities abroad.
