THE House Defence Committee insisted yesterday there was not enough time to discuss a bill aimed at combating draft dodging before the summer recess.
This means the new wave of National Guard (NG) conscripts this month will not be covered by the proposed new law. The bill is a complete revision of the NG law passed in 1964 and includes provisions that aim to put an end to draft dodging by introducing properly regulated alternative – or ‘special’ – service lasting 32 months.
The Committee yesterday examined the possibility of separating the chapter dealing specifically with draft dodging in a bid to pass it before parliament’s summer recess, but following the advice of the Legal Services, it was decided that this was not possible.
“It was decided that this would be extreme dangerous from a legal point of view,” said Committee Chairman, EDEK’s Yiannakis Omirou. “So we decided to discuss every chapter separately, without the possibility of separating the chapters on draft dodging.”
Asked to comment on criticisms over the delay by an organisation of conscripts’ parents, which was formed to protest draft dodging, Omirou added: “Parliament doesn’t operate on demand. Parliament and parliamentary committees need to be serious and responsible if they are to examine bills in depth.”
He explained that the bill included 57 chapters and it was not possible to conclude by next Thursday, when parliament wraps up for the summer.
But the head of the parent’s group, George Appios, said he was disappointed with MPs, who he said had promised to hold intensive discussions on the bill to make sure it was passed before the new group of soldiers were enlisted.
“We are unreservedly in favour of the bill as we think it will be a powerful tool for the Defence Minister to put an end to the phenomenon of draft dodging,” said Appios. “But it emerged through today’s discussion that deputies will not manage to discuss the entire bill from start to finish.”
He said this was despite the fact that the bill was similar to the current law. “And they are not even prepared to hold intensive discussions. The ministry did its job; MPs had promised us that whenever the bill was ready, they would sit day and night to pass it in time for the new enlistment.”
Appios said there needed to be an end to the phenomenon of 20 to 25 per cent of youths avoiding their service, which means those who actually serve their sentence have their leaves slashed to cover the army’s needs – essentially punishing them for “being true to their obligations”.
The “special” alternative service will be for conscripts who claim they can’t carry out their military service on psychological grounds. Until now, they could achieve an exemption or postponement of their service.
But with the new law, this will no longer be the case. Not only will special conscripts have to carry out their service – which will be determined by the NG Chief and approved by the Defence Minister – they will also have to serve an extra eight months compared to other conscripts.
