Parliamentary Speaker Fathi Sorour has declined to discuss the new law regulating Lawyers Syndicate elections. In response to a request by parliament's legislative committee yesterday--submitted by MP Alaa Abdel Moneim--to debate the issue, Sorour said the new law would not be introduced to the assembly this session, adding that he preferred not to introduce it at all. Sorour argued that the constitution stipulated the democratic establishment of syndicates, noting that parliament could not consider the issue without first approaching legal professionals. This was the reason, he added, that he had asked the committee to again reconsider the new law. Lawyers that object to the electoral amendments have been staging protests at the syndicate's headquarters in Downtown Cairo for four days. They say they have collected 3000 signatures demanding that the law be rescinded and withdrawing confidence from the current syndicate board. Yesterday, protesters issued what they called the "statement of 20," in reference to the number of signatories to the document. Mohamed Tosson, rapporteur for the legislative committee and Muslim Brotherhood official at the Lawyers Syndicate, said that the coming stage would require the redoubling of efforts to counter what he described as the "dubious amendments." Tosson also called for the avoidance of secondary electoral contests, in a reference to recent clashes at the lawyers club conference in Maadi, saying that such incidents did not help efforts aimed at overturning the new law. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
