Egypt's judges flocked yesterday morning to the General Assembly of their club in downtown Cairo to elect a new board of directors (14 seats and the chairman) for the next three years. Some judges described the number of judges and members of the Public Prosecution, especially from Alexandria, Southern Egypt and some governorates in the Delta, as unprecedented. They were around 1,000 before Friday prayer, while they became more than 3,000 two hours before voting was closed and until the newspaper went to the press. The main competitors are three lists: the Independence, led by Hisham Guneinah; the Change, led by his rival Ahmed el-Zand; and the list of Samy Zein Eddin. According to all predictions, though, the competition is mainly going to be between the first two lists. The Deputy Chief Justice of the Court of Cassation, Counselor Ahmed Makki, said: "I expect the number of voters to reach 4,000, but I can't predict the result." Meanwhile, the Chairman of Assiut Judges' Club, Counselor Rifaat el-Sayyed, said: "I can't predict who the next president will be". When the voting ended, this difficult electoral race had not been settled yet. However, most people expected victory eventually to go to most of the members of Guneinah's list, while the race for the club chairmanship is tight between Guneinah and el-Zand. The three candidates said the results of the elections would not affect the good relations among them and that they would accept any result. The elections were also partaken in by some leading judges of the Ministry of Justice and courts, such as Counselor Osama Attawia, an assistant of Minister Mamdouh Marie. The Board's outgoing Chairman, Counselor Zakaria Abdel Aziz, said he was concerned that the government could interfere in the elections, adding that the government had been gathering strength for these elections for months. He also affirmed that all the Board has done under his chairmanship has been for the judiciary, adding that over the past six years the Board has achieved what no other board has been able to do in dozens of years.
