The April 6 Youth Movement has launched a campaign dubbed “Preserve the Egyptian Army,” which other youth movements and political forces have announced they intend to join.
A statement released by the movement on Sunday said: “The Egyptian army is a great deterrent force to any external enemy trying to undermine our borders and sovereignty. It has a great history and great respect in the hearts of the people.”
The statement reiterated the slogan that was repeated at the beginning of the revolution: “The army and the people are one.”
But the statement went on to say that “the military council, which assumed power on 11 February, affected this good relationship by implicating the army in suppressing demonstrations in clashes that resulted in many deaths and injuries, thereby increasing the gap between the people and their armed forces, especially after the whole world saw how the army harassed girls in the streets of Cairo.
Ingy Hamdy, a member of the youth movement's political bureau, called for absolving the army of all political responsibility. “Its core mission is to protect the borders of Egypt, not to attack citizens,” she said.
“The military council failed to administer the country,” she added. “Its members do not care about the reputation of the Egyptian army as much as they care to protect Hosni Mubarak and his men.
“Unemployment went up, production fell, tourism ceased and capital fled the country because it is under military rule.”
The movement also announced that it would participate in demonstrations on 25 January to call for the handover of power to an elected parliament or interim president on 23 January, and for final presidential elections within 60 days of that date.
