The newly-elected Bar Association council is set to reenact the last four years' struggle between a Nasserist chairman and a Muslim Brother dominated council, reports Mona El-Nahhas In the Bar Association elections held on Saturday Sameh Ashour was re-elected as chairman while members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood (MB) secured 15 out of the 24 council's seats. The four-year struggle between the Nasserist chairman and the Islamist-controlled council that has almost paralysed the Bar Association looks set to continue. On Saturday the Bar Association's headquarters -- hosting 27 of the syndicate's 472 electoral committees -- was covered with banners bearing the names of candidates. Supporters of Ashour, and his main rival Raga'i Attiya, shouted ever more angrily at each other as the day progressed. Together with Ashour and Attiya five other candidates were competing for the post of the syndicate chairman, while 274 candidates were contesting the 24 council seats. Microphones were set at their loudest and flyers seemed to be everywhere as voters thronged the syndicate from the early hours of the morning until 5pm, when the count started. The turnout at the general and branch syndicates was high, with 74,490 of the 146,211 members of the syndicate's general assembly registering their votes. Though he managed an impressive victory over his rival Ashour expressed disappointment at the Muslim Brothers' domination of two thirds of the council seats. The Muslim Brothers, for their part, had hoped Attiya would replace Ashour. Ashour won 44,540 votes, Attiya 28,755. Although a member of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) Attiya had banked on forming an alliance with the Muslim Brothers, hoping that their popularity would offset any hostility felt towards NDP candidates. He miscalculated. The Muslim Brothers main target was to win as many council seats as possible. The post of syndicate chairman, they reasoned, could be effectively marginalised should they have gained control of 22 council seats. When, on Sunday evening, the chief justice of Cairo Southern Court, Counsellor Hanaa El-Mansi, in his capacity as head of the judicial committee in charge of supervising professional syndicate elections, announced the final results of elections, Muslim Brother council members staged a sit-in strike in front of El-Mansi's office, accusing the state of rigging elections. "We are certain the government interfered in the elections of the Bar Association in favour of their man," said Gamal Tageddin, spokesman of the Muslim Brothers' bloc on the previous council. Although a Nasserist, Ashour is seen by his Islamist opponents as the government's candidate. Responding to criticisms that he is, perhaps, too close to the regime, Ashour argues that dealing with the government is not a crime. "We are not an opposition party," Ashour said, stressing that in the coming period the Bar Association will concentrate on upgrading the services offered to members. "The starting point will be amending legislation governing membership. Then I will be working on raising lawyers pensions to a maximum of LE1500 and a minimum of LE400," he declared. Following his victory Ashour warned that he would not allow any political trend to dominate the syndicate. Lawyer Akef Gad, an Ashour supporter who won a council seat, said that there was "no choice but to accept the will of lawyers and coordinate with Muslim Brother members". The Muslim Brothers, for their part, say they are not going to accept the election results lying down. "We will very soon file a lawsuit contesting the results of this rigged elections and calling for them to be annulled," said Tageddin. The elections were originally scheduled for 12 March. Following a failure to reach the necessary quorum -- Law 100 of 1993 governing elections at professional syndicates stipulates that 50 per cent of general assembly members must cast their votes -- the elections were reheld a week later.
