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Al-Ahram Weekly 6 - 12 July 2000 Issue No. 489 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 6 - 12 July 2000 Issue No. 489
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region Focus International Economy Opinion Culture Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Lawyers strike back
By Mona El-NahhasLawyers staged open sit-ins in all governorates on Tuesday declaring opposition to a government-inspired decision to indefinitely delay Bar Association elections, originally scheduled for today. They said the agitation will continue until free elections take place.
On Saturday, lawyers will gather at the headquarters of the syndicate's Cairo branch to announce their next move, which could be a general work stoppage. Election candidates have been meeting with lawyers daily in order to mount pressure and force the government to abandon its policy of procrastination.
The protests were triggered when Mahfouz Shuman, head of the judicial committee in charge of supervising elections at professional syndicates, ordered the elections to be postponed pending a decision by the Supreme Administrative Court on a government appeal in a dispute about the locations of polling stations.
The dispute began when the judicial committee decided to set up polling stations at youth centres, social clubs, companies and governmental departments. Ahmed Nasser, a candidate for syndicate chairman, contested the committee's decision on constitutional grounds, arguing that by law, the elections should be held at the syndicate's main and branch offices.
Nasser charged that the committee's decision could facilitate election rigging, as lawyers would have no control on ballot boxes and would have to depend on security men. Basing itself on the law governing the legal profession, the Administrative Court ruled on 25 June that elections should be held at the general and branch syndicates only. The government reacted by taking the ruling to the Supreme Administrative Court, which will hear the appeal on 22 July.
Bar Association sources said the government's action was intended to ram its candidate for chairman, Raga'i Atiya, down the throats of lawyers. Lawyers vowed that they would stand firmly against governmental attempts to "falsify" their will.
In addition the controversy over the government's appeal, a number of candidates, including Nasser, have filed lawsuits against Shuman demanding compensation for the material and moral damage inflicted on them because of the election's delay. According to professional syndicate law, elections should take place within 40 days of the start of nomination procedures, following which the process of nominations should begin again. This period will end on 8 July. Nasser's lawsuit, which called for the annulment of Shuman's decree, will be heard by the Administrative Court on 30 July.
Meanwhile, in the Damietta governorate in the northern Nile Delta, 500 lawyers staged strikes at the Ras Al-Bar courthouse last week -- but for reason far removed from syndicate elections. The lawyers were protesting to show their solidarity with a colleague, Kamal Ali Ismail, who had been attacked by a police officer. The lawyers threatened to continue the strike until the Interior Ministry punishes the officer.
Related stories:Battle for the Bar- 29 June - 5 July 2000
