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Al-Ahram Weekly 1 - 7 June 2000 Issue No. 484 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 1 - 7 June 2000 Issue No. 484
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Focus Features Heritage Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Chamber puts the house in order
By Mona El FiqiA new committee will be formed within the few coming days to manage the affairs of the Cairo Chamber of Commerce, which lost its legitimate governing board after a court pronouncement ruled its 1996 elections illegal. Minister of Trade and Internal Supply Hassan Khedr issued the decision in accordance with the current law of the Chambers of Commerce.
Banks have been instructed by the minister to halt all dealings related to the Cairo chamber, pending the formation of the new committee, said Khaled Abu Ismail, deputy chairman of the Egyptian Federation for Chambers of Commerce. The chamber's bank assets are estimated at LE12 million.
The story began four years ago in September 1996, two weeks after the results of the Cairo Chamber of Commerce elections were announced. Mohamed Mustafa Ali, an unsuccessful candidate in the elections, filed a suit claiming that the procedures had not been duly conducted.
After a lengthy legal process, the administrative court judged the election procedures to be illegal in January of this year. The Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade, however, undertook no immediate action to dissolve the chamber board as is required by law.
Ali sent a formal notice to the minister of supply and internal trade urging him to adopt measures in accordance with the court's ruling on the illegal status of the current board.
Khedr finally responded and informed Mahmoud El-Arabi, chairman of the Cairo chamber and head of the Federation for Egyptian Chambers of Commerce, that a temporary committee is in the process of formation and that it will manage the chamber on a provisional basis. El-Arabi announced that he was ready to hand over the chamber's business to the committee.
According to the law, half of the membership of each chamber is appointed by the minister and the other half is elected.
The situation is currently an ambiguous one in the chamber, since there are many questions that need to be answered by the ministry. When will the committee be formed? Will the dissolution decision affect all members -- those appointed and those elected? Finally, will new elections be held this year or the next? It is difficult to tell, as this is the first such instance related to the chamber and so far, board members have been provided with no written guidelines to follow.
There is also confusion concerning the date of the new elections. A month ago, the cabinet decided to delay the elections of the chambers of commerce to September 2001 instead of 2000. Prime Minister Atef Ebeid announced that holding the elections after the People's Assembly elections would be better. Moreover, holding the chamber's elections a year later would allow for the new law of chambers of commerce to be passed by the People's Assembly's next session.
Some members believe the court's decision concerns elected members only, and not appointed members. The ministerial committee has yet to issue a verdict on the matter, as well as on the validity of Ebeid's decree to delay the elections.
The chamber had been bracing itself for the passing of amendments to the law of the chambers of commerce, so as to make them more effective in their operations. But these amendments, which have been submitted to parliament, are not expected to be reviewed in its current session due to end in June. Mamdouh Thabet Mekki, secretary-general of the Cairo chamber, said the new amendments deal with some negative points in the current law, which has been in effect since 1952.
The new law gives women the right to be chamber members and to be elected to the board. This is forbidden under the current law.
One of the obstacles hindering the chambers of commerce from promoting business adequately is a scarcity of revenues. The new amendments purport to increase membership duties from the current low LE2. According to Mekki, this will help increase the chambers' income so as to recruit executive experts to run the chambers' affairs.
The amendments state that chamber elections should be subject to judicial supervision so as to avoid administrative mistakes, which occurred previously.
The current law does not obligate all members to participate in elections. Mekki cited an example.
"Cairo chamber members are 50,000 traders and businessmen, but only 1,500 attend the elections every time. Under the current law, it is easy for anybody to mobilise 500 members to guarantee that he will be elected-which is unfair," he said.
The Federation for Egyptian Chambers of Commerce is scheduled to convene on 4 June to designate Abu Ismail as acting chairman of the federation until the new elections are held.
