CAIRO: The fallout from the Lawyers' Syndicate draft law continue to fuel clashes between conflicting parties at the syndicate, with one group intent on withdrawing confidence from the current board. In a statement released Saturday, the Independence of the Syndicate Front said that they are holding the current board, and specifically National Democratic Party (NDP) members Hamdy Khalifa and Omar Haridy, responsible for “a conspiracy against the syndicate.” The Front also referred to how they have succeeded in stopping the draft syndicate law which was presented before the People's Assembly (PA) last month by MP Haridy, board member, and other NDP MPs. The law proposed amendments to the bar association electoral regulations and legal practice, such as a ten-fold increase in the minimum number of lawyers required to withdraw confidence from the head of the syndicate to 5,000. Currently, only 500 lawyers are required for such move. The proposed law also reduced the number of syndicate board members to 31, down from 46. In addition, it stipulates that the syndicate president be a lawyer at the Court of Cassation, hence denying access to the top post to lawyers in other specializations. It further imposes restrictions on issuing powers of attorney. The law was primarily prepared by Syndicate President Khalifa. On the other hand, Khalifa and several board members held a press conference addressing the ongoing conflict. He claimed that the “current so-called crisis” was the work of board member who are looking for their own personal benefit and not the Syndicate's. The Independence of the Syndicate Front is calling for a general assembly meeting in order to call for a no-confidence vote. Khalifa is refusing. He said that the prosecution office is currently investigating a number of forged requests for the withdrawal of confidence from the current board at the syndicate's offices in Sharqiya and Menya. According to the Front, “If he is confident of his popularity he wouldn't be using the state in order to stop this voting from taking place.”
