CAIRO: An attempt to resolve the conflict between the Ministry of Justice and protesting legal specialists fell through after specialists deemed the ministry's proposals "weak and insufficient. As their sit-in entered its 24th day, representatives from protesting legal specialists met Wednesday with Boules Hanna, assistant minister for administrative development; Hussein Zaki, head of specialists' sector authority; and Mohamed Daher, head of the legal specialists club. During the three-hour meeting, the ministry proposed an average LE 50-100 increase in salaries starting next October. The offer was rejected by legal specialists who said "it didn't meet our expectations. "We consider this first official round of negotiations a failure after the ministry's proposal was refused by all specialists, as it didn't meet any of their five main legitimate demands, a statement issued by the specialists read. Legal specialists at the ministry started an open sit-in on July 6 demanding the replacement of law 96/1952 and the cancellation of periodic book number eight that obliges them to examine case files in courtrooms only. They are also calling for better pay and work conditions. Following the meeting, ministry officials asked the specialists to form a delegation of eight members to discuss the ministry's proposal in a follow-up meeting. However, according to Mahmoud El-Qobeisy, a member of the delegation and head of Alexandria's legal specialists' authority, no one showed up from the ministry. "We only found our leaders who conveyed the ministry's proposal to us and told us to continue our sit-in, El-Qobeisy told Daily News Egypt. "There was a rumor that a presidential representative attended the meeting which wasn't true, he added. Hanna said that the ministry's decisions were legitimate and were merely a reactivation of some terms of the existing law. "Specialists' objections are a result of a misunderstanding and they will agree to them once they comprehend the new laws, he told Al-Masry Al-Youm. According to El-Qobeisy, the ministry sent a report to the presidential office in which it said the specialists are reluctant to negotiate with the ministry and that there are internal conflicts between the specialists and their leaders. "On July 22, head of the specialists' sector authority and head of the specialists' club issued a statement in which they expressed their support to our demands, so there are no conflicts whatsoever, El-Qobeisy said. Earlier this month, an attempt by a National Democratic Party MP to resolve the conflict between the Ministry of Justice and protesting legal specialists fell through after the ministry failed to send representatives to a meeting initiated by the MP. "We will continue our sit-in until our demands are met even if it takes months to achieve that, said the specialists' statement. Protestors hung lanterns in front of the ministry where they are staging their sit-in to symbolize their persistence to continue striking during the month of Ramadan scheduled to start late august.
