Sunday's elections at the Bar Association could yet be postponed, reports Mona El-Nahhas Today the Administrative Court is expected to give a final ruling on whether Bar Association elections, due on 18 January, can go ahead after dozens of lawyers filed lawsuits contesting the validity of voting lists. According to Tharwat El-Kharabawi, one of the plaintiffs, the association's current electoral roll is in need of a massive overhaul and includes the names of long dead lawyers as well as those working overseas. The claimants have also accused former syndicate chairman Sameh Ashour of including the names of thousands of lawyers from other provinces -- who are mainly Ashour's supporters -- on the lists. Ashour says the lawsuits are a tactic to delay elections and, ultimately, see the syndicate placed under judicial sequestration. The court-delegated committee charged with examining the lists said on Sunday that some irregularities had been found, leading to an adjournment of any final ruling on whether the polls go ahead as planned till today. Twenty one candidates are standing for the post of syndicate chairman and 540 competing for places on the 41-seat council. In October an Administrative Court ordered earlier polls, scheduled for 14 November, to be stopped on the grounds that they did not conform with Law 100/1993 which regulates the election process at professional syndicates. A judicial committee authorised to supervise syndicate elections fixed a new date. So if a ruling today orders an immediate halt to polls it will be the second shock candidates have received in less than three months. Besides, the syndicate will face the threat of being placed under judicial sequestration until the process of sorting out voters' lists ends. However, if the court will allow elections to be staged lawyers expect the ensuing electoral battle to be fierce. Ashour is widely seen as the frontrunner for the post of chairman. Despite his Nasserist leanings Ashour has received the backing of the ruling National Democratic party (NDP). For a government obsessed with preventing Islamists from controlling professional syndicates Ashour, whose hostility towards the Muslim Brotherhood is no secret, seems to be the government's best bet. Ashour denies that he is the government's candidate, insisting that he is the candidate of all lawyers, regardless of their political affiliations. "I am not in need of the support of the NDP, the Muslim Brotherhood or even the Nasserist Party," Ashour said, adding that what he really needs is the backing of lawyers. NDP member Ragaai Attiya is also contesting the chairmanship, though his earlier alliances with the Muslim Brotherhood in the 2001 and 2005 syndicate elections are thought to have cost him government support. Hamdi Khalifa, chairman of the syndicate's Giza branch, is also standing. He has a track record of improving the services offered to members and is popular among many lawyers. Islamist Montasser El-Zayyat is not thought to have much hope of attaining the chairman's seat. Lawyers point out that his differences with both the Muslim Brotherhood and members of Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya restrict his appeal to many. Nor is liberal lawyer Talaat El-Sadat likely to fare much better. Many lawyers fear his penchant for confrontation with the regime will act to harm their interests. The Muslim Brotherhood, as in earlier elections, is targeting council seats rather than the post of chairman, fielding 15 candidates. In past elections the group usually announced a preferred candidate for chairman though this year it has yet to recommend who its supporters should vote for. Sources close to the group expect that Attiya will emerge as its nominee though according to Muslim Brotherhood lawyer Gamal Tageddin the group, due to certain electoral tactics, will delay naming a candidate until the re-run of polls, due on 25 January. "I am certain there will be a re- run. Sunday will not get a quorum," says Tageddin. The law regulating professional syndicates election requires the attendance of at least half the members of the general assembly during the first round of elections. This means the presence of 105,000 lawyers on Sunday. In case this number of lawyers fails to attend, a re-run of polls is scheduled a week later, as stipulated by the law, whereby 65,000 lawyers should be present. Tageddin went on to deny rumours that leading MB members have conducted a secret deal with Ashour. "Anyone entering into alliance with Ashour betrays the syndicate," Tageddin told Al-Ahram Weekly, accusing Ashour of attempting to "turn the Bar Association into a government-controlled syndicate".
