Elections at the Press Syndicate can be resumed in the wake of a legal challenge, reports Mona El-Nahhas On Monday the Supreme Administrative Court annulled a lower court ruling issued on 13 October halting Press Syndicate polls scheduled for the following day, 14 October. The three runners for the chairmanship seat, together with 103 nominees for the 12 member council will now resume their election campaigns. On Tuesday noon, members of the syndicate council met with nominees at the headquarters of the Press Syndicate to set a fresh date for elections. Following the meeting it was announced that the poll would be held on 26 October. In the wake of 13 October ruling concerns were voiced about a conspiracy targeting the syndicate. Some journalists went even further, suggesting the ruling was a prelude to placing the syndicate under judicial sequestration. Yehia Qallash, one of the front runners for the post of chairman, while excluding the possibility of sequestration still believes the syndicate is in danger. "We need to move fast and save our syndicate," Qallash told Al-Ahram Weekly on Monday. According to syndicate legal advisor Sayed Abu Zeid, the Supreme Administrative Court ruling validates the electoral process so far. In other words, polls will go ahead without re- opening nominations. The initial ruling of the first-degree Administrative Court came in response to a lawsuit filed by several journalists who had petitioned for polls to be stopped. The judgement was based on a Supreme Constitutional Court ruling passed last March that found Law 100/1993, which regulates polls at professional syndicates, unconstitutional. The current Press Syndicate Council, elected under Law 100, was by extension judged illegitimate and its decisions null and void. The syndicate had no choice but to implement the initial ruling. The Journalists for Reform group organised a sit-in in front of the Press Syndicate on 14 October to protest against halting elections and against statements made by former Press Syndicate chairman Makram Mohamed Ahmed following the ruling. Ahmed, who seems to have misinterpreted the ruling, insisted the court viewed the decision to hold elections as invalid because it was taken by acting syndicate chairman Salah Abdel-Maqsoud and not by the chairman. Ahmed has been quoted as saying the council should apologise to him and ask him to call for the poll. Ahmed denies that he submitted his resignation to the council in February. On Monday, as the Supreme Administrative Court was hearing the appeal filed to contest the first-degree ruling, Abdel-Maqsoud made public the minutes of the Syndicate Council meeting held on 20 February which discussed the resignation presented by Ahmed for a third time. The council approved the resignation and assigned Abdel-Maqsoud, as the oldest deputy chairman, to take over. The current syndicate council, argues Abu Zeid, remains legitimate in the absence of any court ruling ordering its dissolution. At the appeal Abu Zeid stressed that if the first- degree ruling remained in force elections at all professional syndicates must be judged illegal. The Press Syndicate's legal representatives had requested an immediate ruling on the appeal from the Supreme Administrative Court. When that ruling was announced it was greeted with cheers by journalists.
