CAIRO (Updated) - An administrative court suspended an election of board members and the chairman of the Egyptian Press Syndicate which was due today, as the de facto chief of the union said the election will be delayed until an appeal against the ruling has been submitted. "The Press Syndicate elections have been suspended because the decision to hold them has been taken by the current unlawful board," the court said. It added that neither Salah Abdel-Maqsoud, who manages the union after its elected chairman Makram Mohamed Ahmed resigned, nor the other board members had the authority to call for the elections. "This board is unlawful after the suspension of Law No. 100/1993 on Professional Syndicates,” the court stressed. The election of 12 board members and a chairman for the Press Syndicate was due today as the general assembly of the journalists was expected to last about three hours. "We will stick to the ruling. There will be no elections until we have filed an appeal against the ruling," said Mohamed Kharaga, a member of the current board. Kharaga added that the legal consultant of the syndicate could not submit the appeal, as the ruling was issued late in the day. The case was filed to the administrative court by Khaled el-Atfi, one of the runners for board membership. "El-Atfi has the right to waive the case or even ignore the execution of the ruling. We are trying to persuade him on this," Sayyed Abou Zeid, the syndicate's legal consultant said. "If the judiciary accepts the query on Saturday [tomorrow], the elections will be held on Sunday," said Abou Zeid. The syndicate's council held an emergency meeting yesterday. Over 100 candidates will be vying to win the hearts of 5,200 Press Syndicate members. Most of these candidates are young people who have never run in elections before
