(AFP Photo)
Interim president Adly Mansour released on Wednesday a presidential decree with the full text of the military oath.
The new oath of obedience, to be sworn by armed forces officers before they enrol in the army, excludes swearing obedience to the president.
The new oath, published in the official gazette, necessitates that the army officer swears loyalty to the Republic of Egypt, to protect its safety, security, sea, land and airspace inside and outside of its borders.
The officers would also swear to obey military orders and orders from their leaders; they would swear to protect their weapons and never abandon them until they die.
Ali Awad Saleh, presidential constitutional advisor, told state-run Al-Ahram that this is the first time a presidential decree has been issued regarding the oath.
Ahmed Ali, official spokesman of the armed forces, told the Daily News Egypt that the only difference between the new oath and its predecessor is that the new oath, sworn obedience to the president has been omitted.
“It’s now all about the country, obeying the law and the constitution,” Ali said. “We want the oath to be more about the country rather than a single person.”
Ali said the new oath does not make any difference in regards to obeying the president. He stated that the officers still swear to obey their army commanders, and since the president is the supreme commander of the armed forces, then the oath dictates they obey him as well.
The armed forces spokesman stated that the new decree is effective as of today. He nevertheless stated that military officers who swore the old oath do not have to re-swear the new one.
