Predictable anger

Is the Bar Association in danger of becoming an offshoot of the National Democratic Party, asks Mona El-Nahhas

---

At the headquarters of the Bar Association lawyers belonging to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood (MB) held a press conference on Monday at which they announced their refusal to recognise the syndicate's new council bureau. Not one of the group's 19 newly- elected council members secured a post within the bureau.

Following a heated meeting last Thursday which lasted for nine hours Hussein El-Gammal, a member of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), was chosen as the syndicate's secretary-general. NDP MP Omar Haridi was made treasurer of the syndicate, leftist lawyer Mohamed Fazzaa was elected as deputy treasurer and independent lawyer Said Abdel-Khaleq took the post of first deputy chairman.

During the meeting MB council members had argued that bureau posts should be distributed on the basis of a secret ballot. The request was refused by the majority of NDP council members who insisted voting should be done by raising hands. In response MB lawyers walked out of the meeting.

Mohamed Tosson, an MB council member, told Al-Ahram Weekly that the group would contest the way in which the syndicate bureau had been selected in the courts.

At the start of the meeting 27 council members, the majority of them members of the NDP, were asked to submit the names of candidates for the six-man bureau. The list that emerged was identical to that suggested by Ahmed Ezz, the NDP's Secretary-General for Organisational Affairs, during a recent meeting with a group of council members.

Ahmed Seif El-Islam, an MB council member, attacked Ezz's interference in the affairs of the Bar Association.

"It has become clear the syndicate has been taken over by the NDP as part of a wide ranging plan to undermine all institutions and pave the way for the smooth inheritance of power," Seif El-Islam said.

Wafdist council member Mahmoud El-Saqqa believes the way the bureau was selected threatens the stability of the syndicate. He has called upon lawyers to refuse to acknowledge the legitimacy of the syndicate bureau which, he argued, will seek to impose the NDP's agenda on the Bar Association.

Syndicate Chairman Hamdi Khalifa is reported to have attempted to mediate between the MB and the NDP camps during Thursday's meeting. He denies that there has been any interference by the NDP in the affairs of the Bar Association. "We should stop classifying lawyers according to their political affiliations," he said. "NDP members who won are all lawyers with a good record in syndicate activities."

If Thursday's meeting was heated, few lawyers were surprised at the turn of events. "After the NDP secured a majority of the council seats and the chairmanship it's natural for them to pack the bureau with their supporters," says leftist lawyer Ahmed Qenawi.

"Khalifa should have shown his independence and insisted on electing candidates by secret ballot. However, it looks as if he was not willing to introduce any changes into Ezz's recommendations," Qenawi said.

Still, as Qenawi argued, it's a bit early to predict whether or not the national role of the Bar Association will diminish.