CAIRO: Incumbent chairman of the Lawyers' Syndicate Sameh Ashour staged a sit-in on Sunday, which he said will last until elections for syndicate chairman resume. Ashour, who is running for another term, is holding the sit-in inside the syndicate. The lawyers are "legitimately asking for their rights and will use all possible means to reach their goal, Ashour, who is blamed by several parties for the current crisis, told independent daily Al-Masry Al-Youm. In October, an Administrative Court ruling closed the door for candidate's applications, citing amendments to the professional syndicates' law. According to Mohsen Eid, lawyer and spokesperson for controversial MP Talaat El-Sadat, a candidate for the chairman's position, the current crisis at the Lawyers' Syndicate stems from two conflicting laws. The first is Article 100 in the professional syndicates' law, which gives South Cairo Court Judge Farouk Sultan the right to monitor the elections. This, El-Sadat said, contradicts Article 197/2008, which gives the Cairo Appeals Court, headed by Judge Adel Anrawes, the right to monitor the elections. "Therefore, Talaat El-Sadat, holds the National Democratic Party (NDP) and Sameh Ashour responsible for the current crisis at the Lawyers' Syndicate because we previously warned the People's Assembly (PA) that this law will create chaos at the syndicate, which is what the NDP wanted in the first place, Eid said, adding that the NDP used Sameh Ashour to weaken the syndicate's position. "We have prepared a draft law which annuls the other flawed laws and we will submit it at the People's Assembly this November. Before that, we will post it on the internet so that all Egyptian lawyers, including Sameh Ashour, can read it and give their opinion on it, explained Eid. Another candidate for the chairman's position, Ragaey Atteya, also places the blame for the situation at the syndicate on Ashour. "What is happening is an act through which Sameh Ashour plans to come back to the chairman's position and retain his occupation of the syndicate, he told Daily News Egypt. "The problem is, this is not the way to achieve anything. We need productive efforts that can get the syndicate out of the [crisis] it is in and carry out the elections, he added. "Sameh Ashour has other objectives, said Atteya. Ashour was unavailable for comment when contacted by Daily News Egypt, however, an employee at his office said on condition of anonymity, "We are standing for what we believe in and the sit-in will go on until the legislative committee reaches the decision to continue the elections. The judicial committee supervising the Lawyers' Syndicate elections had postponed the elections from Oct. 10 to Nov. 14 to give the candidates more time to promote their campaigns. According to Refaat El-Saeed, head of the judicial committee, the elections were postponed as a result of complaints by candidates who saw it difficult to campaign during Ramadan.
