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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 Press workers choose representatives
By Shaden ShehabEnthusiastic voters at 10 national press organisations headed to the ballot boxes at their head offices on Sunday to elect six members for the board of directors and 15 members for the general assembly of each organisation. The balloting took place at the organisations of Al-Ahram, Akhbar El-Yom, Dar El-Tahrir, Dar El-Maaref and October, Dar El-Ta'awon, Dar El-Shaab, Dar El-Hilal, Rose El-Youssef, the Middle East News Agency and the National Company for Distribution.
Of the six contested seats on each board of directors, two went to the editorial staff, two to the administration and two to the workers. Of the 15 contested seats in the general assembly, five went to each category. Six other seats on the board of directors and 15 in the general assembly are filled by appointment by the board chairman. The number of candidates who ran for election in all 10 organisations was about 650.
Elections are supposed to be held, and appointments made, every four years, but the last election was in 1992. The reason for the delay was not revealed. It is the responsibility of the Supreme Press Council to set the date for the elections, supervise them, publicly announce the results and officially notify the Shura Council.
The board of directors is empowered to take all the decisions on the running of the organisation, whereas the general assembly acts as a watchdog on implementation of these decisions.
Dozens of fliers decorated the streets around the press organisations' offices and posters bedecked the walls. Excited voices shouted through microphones. Candidates distributed leaflets that carried their names, in some cases their pictures, and made promises of what they would do for voters if elected. At most organisations, voter turnout was in record numbers and many had to squeeze their way to the ballot boxes. About 22,000 voters cast ballots at the 10 organisations.
The voting began at 9 am and ended at 5 pm. The results were announced around 11 pm.
In Al-Ahram organisation, the winners from the editorial staff were Mohamed Basha, managing editor, and Ibrahim Hegazi, editor-in-chief of the weekly Al-Ahram El-Riyadi; winners from the administration were Mohamed Mohamedein, general manager of the publications department and Hussein El-Masri, a medical doctor at Al-Ahram's clinic; winners from the workers were Mohamed Sakr, general manager of the communications department, and Mamdouh Darwish, chief of a department at the Qalyoub printing house.
The vote will be followed by elections at the Press Syndicate later this month. But to the 3,500 Syndicate members, it is not yet known whether the elections will fill only the 12 seats on the Syndicate's council or those seats as well as that of the chairman.
The council had submitted a request to a judicial committee, empowered by law to supervise the elections of professional unions, to set a date for the elections and decide whether they will also fill the chairman's seat.
The confusion resulted from the fact that the Syndicate's activities are regulated by two laws. The Press Syndicate law regulates the chairman's elections, specifying that they should be held every two years and that the chairman can only have the post for two consecutive terms. Law 100, on the other hand, regulates the activities of the Syndicate council, stipulating that elections for the 12 seats take place every four years.
Elections for the council's seats took place in March 1995 while elections to fill the chairman's seat were delayed, due to legal wrangling, from March until June 1997. Consequently, the Syndicate council requested that the council elections be held this March and elections for the chairman's post take place in June. No decision has been taken yet by the judicial committee.
"It is only logical that the chairman's elections take place in June because if they were held in March, the two-year term would not have been completed," said Syndicate chairman Makram Mohamed Ahmed. But he added: "I do not know if I will run for a second term. I have a personal problem and unless it is solved, I will not nominate myself."
