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Egypt: 9000 Students Join Free Students Union election

The Lawyers’ Syndicate hosted, on November 21, 2006, students from 12 universities all over Egypt, where the Free Student Union election was held earlier this month. The Syndicate witnessed the last phase of the Free Student Union elections, choosing a national Union’s Secretary-General and his aides from among the winning students who attended the election event.

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The Lawyers’ Syndicate hosted, on November 21, 2006, students from 12 universities all over Egypt, where the Free Student Union election was held earlier this month. The Syndicate witnessed the last phase of the Free Student Union elections, choosing a national Union’s Secretary-General and his aides from among the winning students who attended the election event.

The election was scheduled to be held at Cairo University but was moved to the Lawyers’ Syndicate after a number of MB university professors received a phone call from University President Dr. Ali Abdul Rahman, rejecting holding these elections at the university premises. He also warned that the students will be an easy prey to the security forces if they embark on this step, adding that he is not responsible for the fate of any student being harmed while participating in this election inside or outside the university.

Earlier this morning, the university appeared as if it were a military barrack, with a large number of security forces sealing off the area from and to the university gates.

The event started with a conference, in which Gamal Tag el Din, the Lawyers’ Syndicate member said that the Syndicate will continue to be open for the students if they were denied their rights to exercise their activities in their universities. Tag el Din pointed out that the Syndicate is considering setting up a committee for the legal battle, which he said will spearhead the struggle against all infamous laws.

Then MB Member of Parliament and Azhar University Professor Dr. Mohamed el Beltagi took the floor and objected to the university students settling for the Free Student Union as a substitute to the government –led union. He explained that students should rather insist on running for elections for university student union than leaving it to the government –backed students, he added. However, he dismissed as groundless claims of illegitimacy of the Free Student Union, pointing out that the union merged out of free and fair election without outside quarters meddling with it as is the case with the government- sponsored election.

El Beltagi refuted also the claims of some skeptics who depict the Free Student Union as a state within a state, saying that this notion exposes the weakness of the ruling regime and its failure to handle activities of university students" What can the student do after they have been struck off the candidacy lists of university election", he asked, adding that the Free Student Union was a natural outcome to the university tough measures against students .

For his part, the Surgery Professor in the Faculty of Medicine, Dr.Medhat Assem, addressed the students by praising the idea of the Free Student Union, urging them to live up to the responsibility and abide by laws and regularities within their universities, adding that their acts and activities will be monitored by the university. Given that the Free Student Union may have no much access to financial resources for activities and services, the professor urged the students to settle for communicating values and principles to their colleagues and setting a good example for them. He lamented the failure of the professors to handle the student activities, but he attributed this failure to the fact that they are also deprived of participating in activities and events organized by students.
 
After the conference, the election was held in the presence of Syndicate member, Gamal Tag el Din, Dr. Mohammed el Beltagui, and Dr. Medhat Assem. Two candidates stood for the Secretary General post, one from Cairo University and the other from Helwan University. Then three candidates stood for the Undersecretary General, one from Cairo University, the other from Mansoura University and the third from Ein Shams University. Vote-count was made amid cheers and chants from students who praised their balloting box where there is no vote rigging as is the case with government-led ones. Amr Hamed, medical student Cairo Faculty of Medicine and the head of its Free Studen Union, was elected to be the General Secretary of the national Free Student Union. Amr Abdel Barry, medical student at Mansoura Faculty of Medicine was elected for the Undersecretary General.