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Al-Ahram Weekly 3 - 9 June 1999 Issue No. 432 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 3 - 9 June 1999 Issue No. 432
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Interview Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Nafie to run for syndicate chairman
By Shaden Shehab
The Press Syndicate's council has refused to bring forward the date of elections for the post of chairman and 12 council members. Elections will take place as scheduled on 28 June. Nominations will be accepted between 12-16 June. Some council members had asked that the elections be held earlier because a number of journalists, mostly chief editors, will accompany President Hosni Mubarak on a trip to the United States on 27 June, making it impossible for them to cast ballots. However, according to Mohamed Abdel-Quddous, a council member, "the majority voted against the proposal because the number of journalists travelling with the president is quite limited." He added that the date for the elections could not be changed "every time a journalist or journalists travel abroad. There can be no exceptions."
Ibrahim Nafie
Makram Mohamed Ahmed, the syndicate's chairman, told Al-Ahram Weekly he personally did not object to holding the elections earlier. "It would not have harmed anybody, but the majority rules, as they say." Although Ahmed could have run for a second term, he announced he would not nominate himself for personal reasons.
Elections will be conducted according to two laws: the Press Syndicate's Law 76 of 1976 and Law 100 of 1993.
Law 100, which provides "democratic guarantees for trade and professional unions", stipulates that the council of a professional union, without specifying the chairman, is elected to a four-year term. The Press Syndicate Law stipulates that the chairman is elected every two years for a maximum of two consecutive terms.
Prior to the last election, held in 1995, a number of journalists delayed the elections by filing a lawsuit with an administrative court in order to obtain a ruling specifying which law should be enforced. The court ruled that Law 100 concerns the council only, while the Press Syndicate Law should be followed for the election of the chairman.
Ibrahim Nafie, chairman of Al-Ahram organisation's board of directors and the daily Al-Ahram's chief editor, announced recently he would run for chairman. Nafie was chairman for two consecutive terms, from 1993 until 1997. His tenure is especially remembered for his successes in leading the journalists' opposition campaign against Law 93 of 1995, which stiffened penalties for publication offences, until it was repealed in 1996 and replaced by a new press law.
In another development, a number of journalists with Al-Ahram lost a lawsuit they had brought against the Shura Council. They had alleged that the Shura Council had failed to appoint a new chairman of the board of directors and chief editor of Al-Ahram, after Nafie passed the legal retirement age of 60.
In May 1997, an administrative court accepted their argument and asked the Shura Council to comply.
Nafie supporters filed a counter lawsuit with the Supreme Administrative Court which annulled the lower court's decision. The Supreme Administrative Court said the appointment of chairmen of the boards of directors and chief editors is the prerogative of the Shura Council which alone determines when and whom to appoint in line with the public interest. The judiciary cannot interfere, the court said.
The court's decision is final.
