Military Reserve Law Passed With Limited Parliamentary Debate

The People’s National Assembly decided to pass the Military Reserve Law with a limited parliamentary debate on July 3, due to the urgency of the project, according to what was stated in a dispatch addressed to the lower chamber of Parliament.

The discussion will be limited to the interventions of the heads of the six parliamentary blocs represented in the legislative body, as was the case with the new investment law.

On Wednesday, Basma Azouar, Minister of Relations with Parliament, presented the draft military reserve law before the members of the National Defense Committee of the People’s National Assembly, in preparation for presenting it to MPs next week to vote on it in a session limited to the interventions of the heads of parliamentary blocs. In her speech, she confirmed that the law related to the military reserve falls within the framework of the state’s efforts to reorganize the country’s defence energy, especially since the military reserve has a mission to preserve independence, defend national sovereignty, and protect the country’s territorial integrity and its land, air and sea.

This requires, according to the Minister, the need to prepare a military reserve that would contribute to confronting any threat, whether external or internal or any security emergency that would prejudice the security and integrity of the national territory, in light of the current regional and global security conditions, which are characterized by the lack of stability.

According to the government’s justifications, expediting the presentation of the draft to Parliament aims to update the legal texts framing the military reserve, especially since some of its provisions have become unresponsive to practical reality, saying: “The new draft includes 68 articles distributed over five basic axes, including defining the categories included in the military reserve, the duration of the reserve, the age limits related to it, and its types as well, in addition to the rules governing the reserve, the cases in which the reserve soldier can be exempted from temporarily re-calling, and the rights and duties of reserve soldiers.

The draft specifies, according to the representative of the executive body, the duties that the reserve soldier is bound by, related to the obligation of caution and reservation, under the penalty of the prescribed penalties, especially those related to withdrawing the Medal of Honor and filing a complaint with the competent judicial authorities, and demoting from rank.

For his part, the Chairman of the National Defense Committee of the People’s National Assembly, Rabeh djedou, asserted that the new project aims to frame the reserve military in a way that makes the mission of communication, management and response smooth and easy for the leadership; “The draft defines the rights and duties of the reserve and removes the ambiguity that was surrounding some provisions and texts, most of which date back to 1976”.