There was a quarrel between the so-called "national list" and the Sharia (Islamic law) committee, the representative of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) list, over the formation of the Bar Association's bureau last Thursday. Members of the Sharia committee withdrew from the meeting and confirmed that any decision by the bureau would be illegal. They threatened to resort to the judiciary if the bureau was formed in their absence. However, other members of the Bar Association's board of directors formed the bureau. Differences dominated the nine-hour meeting, especially when MP Omar Haridi, a board member, filed a memo to Hamdi Khalifa, chairman of the association, calling for approving an agreement between 26 members on the list of the Bureau, which did not include any MB member. On the other hand, some lawyers staged a protest at 4 am against what they called "Ahmed Ezz's interference in their association's affairs." They accused Ezz, secretary of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) Organization, of being behind the new formation of the bureau, which includes Omar Haridi as a treasurer; Mohamed Fazah, assistant treasurer; Hussein al-Gamal, secretary general; Yahya al-Tony, assistant secretary-general; Gamal Sewaid, first undersecretary; and Saeed Abdel Khaliq, second undersecretary.
For his part, Khalifa denied the NDP interference in the association's affairs, saying: "The NDP has nothing to do with us." However, MP Saad Abboud, member of the association, said it was clear that what had been agreed upon in a meeting at the presence of Ezz in a hotel has been approved in the end. The meeting's details were published by newspapers. The Bar Association was 'hijacked' for the benefit of the NDP within the framework of a program to "tame" the institutions as a prelude to power inheritance. For his part, Ahmed Seif el-Islam, a Bar Association board member, attacked the NDP, confirming that Ezz's interference in the association's affairs aims to subjugate the association to "personal interest." The procedures of forming the bureau are illegal. Speaking to Al-Masry Al-Youm, Al-Banna said: "The law is our only way to stop this farce. After that, we will consider some actions against the ruling party to prevent its unjustified interferences in the work of the association's board of directors."
