Egyptian Journalists to Elect New Head, 6 Broad Members

As the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate will hold its mid-term elections today, Friday, at the headquarters of the Teachers Association in Cairo’s Al-Gezira district, observers are keen to figure out to whom thousands of journalists will give their vote.

[caption id="attachment_227379" align="aligncenter" width="543"] Khaled Mery- File Photo[/caption]

Last month, Khaled Mery, the undersecretary of the Journalists Syndicate, received an approval from the head of the Teachers Syndicate Khalaf El-Zanat to hold the elections at the association’s open-air area where preventive measures against the coronavirus can be followed.

According to the Journalists Syndicate by-law, a new head and six out of 12 board members should be elected, after the vote was already adjourned from March to April owing to coronavirus concerns.

It's noteworthy that the government rejected the syndicate's proposal to hold the elections on 19 March in tents outside the syndicate's headquarters at Abdel Khalek Tharwat street, Downtown Cairo.

The most prominent candidates for the post of the syndicate's head are incumbent head Diaa Rashwan and veteran writer Refaat Rashad. There are 55 candidates are competing for board seats.

[caption id="attachment_64152" align="aligncenter" width="980"] Diaa Rashwan[/caption]

Rashwan was born on January 1, 1960. He is a politician and the current Chairman of the State Information Service. Rashwan graduated from Cairo University in 1981 with a Bachelor's degree in political science, he also received a Master's degree in the same field from the Paris-based Sorbonne University in 1985.

He began his career in Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies in early 80s as a researcher and has been an expert scholar over there since then and many years later in 2011 he became the Director of the Center.

Akhbar Al-Youm’s Rashad said that he was standing to “protect fellow journalists and freedom of expression" and would prioritize the cases of journalists who had been expelled from their workplaces as well as fighting for increases in wages and pensions.

[caption id="attachment_227375" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Refaat Rashad[/caption]