A PROMINENT German professor of international politics lauded yesterday the key role played by the Shura Council (the Upper House of the Egyptian Parliament) in enriching the political life in the country. After talks with the House's Chairman Safwat el-Sherif, Professor Ingeborg Tommel, who is leading an official delegation representing the University of Osnabruck, said that the council was playing an important role in promotingdemocracy and constitutional rights in Egypt. She also praised the efforts made by el- Sherif to restore the Shura House buildingafter a 2008 fire that damaged some parts of the 19th-century palace. Professor Tommel, gave a brief lecture to junior Egyptian journalists about governance, policy-making and system-building in the EU. Tommel's lecture is the first joint training venture between the Journalists Training Centre and the European Union and the University of Osnabruck.
