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Al-Ahram Weekly 11 - 17 March 1999 Issue No. 420 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 11 - 17 March 1999 Issue No. 420
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Focus Special Features Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Liberating the Bar?
By Mona El-NahhasLawyers with various political affiliations will hold an extraordinary general assembly on 18 March to seek an end to the three-year-old judicial sequestration imposed upon the Bar Association, or Lawyers Syndicate. Nasserist MP Sameh Ashour, a candidate for the post of syndicate chairman, submitted to the three court-appointed custodians on 17 February a memorandum signed by 1,263 lawyers, calling for the assembly to convene. The memorandum warned that if the custodians refused, the assembly would be held in mid-April by force of law.
The memorandum also stated that the time had come for organising elections after the custodianship proved to be a failure and after the custodians submitted voters' lists to the judicial committee empowered by law to supervise the elections.
During Thursday's assembly -- if it convenes -- lawyers will establish an interim committee to take over the syndicate and prepare for elections that lawyers say should be held within 60 days. Lawyers also add that this interim committee will take over even if force has to be used.
The custodians are not expected to give up easily.
At a news conference on Tuesday, one custodian, Ahmed Reda Ghatwari, declared his opposition to the planned assembly, describing it as illegal. "Signatures of the lawyers who submitted the memorandum had not been endorsed by the branch syndicates as required by law," he said. "Moreover, the memorandum should not have been submitted to the custodians because they do not play the role of syndicate chairman."
Ghatwari said the custodians will not allow the assembly to convene and will appeal to the authorities concerned to "protect" the Bar Association. He described Ashour's actions as "electioneering," arguing that only a court order, not a general assembly, can abolish the custodianship.
Ashour said the planned assembly is bound to bring to light the government's position on the elections they seek. "If the assembly convened smoothly without the intervention of security authorities, this would mean that the government was no longer in favour of sequestration and would allow fair elections to take place," he said.
According to Ashour, lawyers have been putting pressure on the government since last year by holding news conferences and general assemblies, staging sit-ins and submitting requests for information in the People's Assembly to high-ranking state officials. Prime Minister Kamal El-Ganzouri told the Assembly in February that elections would be held soon at the Bar Association, meaning that sequestration would finally end.
Ashour said he hopes the government will keep its promise.
Raga'i Attiya, widely believed to be the government's candidate for the post of chairman, said he had met with state officials to find a way out of the association's crisis. He said he was promised that elections would be held soon.
Asked about his expectations for a new Association council and whether the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood would constitute a majority, Attiya said: "There is a general consensus among lawyers that it would be better to have a national council representing the various political trends, including the Muslim Brotherhood."
Mukhtar Nouh, former treasurer of the dissolved Brotherhood-controlled council, is planning to contest a council seat. He said the Brotherhood intends to have "a powerful presence on a national council, elected by the majority of lawyers."
Nouh was recently investigated by a public funds prosecutor on suspicion of financial irregularities while serving as the association's treasurer. He insisted that his legal position is "very strong."
Independent lawyers are sceptical that elections will be held soon. "We have previously heard a lot of official statements and we hope that the government will be serious this time about resolving the lawyers' crisis," prominent lawyer Mohamed Asfour said.
Asfour does not think the planned general assembly will be fruitful. "This is not the first time that a general assembly is convened. A very big one was held in May 1997 but all its recommendations were shelved under the pretext that the meeting was illegal," he said.
