CAIRO: Experts have long attributed the perpetually low Muslim Brotherhood representation on public university leadership boards to the former ruling National Democratic Party’s decades-long control over academia. But recent elections to choose deans held for the first time in 17 years, have proven otherwise.
University elections for faculty deans held at the end of September saw a large turnout, with more than 90 percent of faculty members voting, according to media reports.
Yet barely any Muslim Brotherhood members were able to win the coveted positions.
Instead, former affiliates of the NDP and/or popular faculty members came to power, with little or no presence of Muslim Brotherhood members — bringing the validity of the long-held notion into question.
After a nationwide protest by some 5,000 university professors and faculty on September 11, activists requested in a series of private meetings with Prime Minister Essam Sharaf, that new appointments be made via an independent and transparent electoral process.
Several university presidents and faculty deans were forced to step down following protests and sit-ins organized in coordination with respective student unions.
Recently, the Supreme Council of Universities gave the go-ahead for elections to take place in institutes whose leaders have resigned. Candidates had to obtain and absolute majority (50+1 percent of the vote) to win the faculty dean seat.
Election results saw the rise of new popular deans with visions for reform, or those previously affiliated with the NDP, fighting off fierce competition from opponents.
Mohamed Abdel Naeem, with a PhD in commercial law and formerly a prominent member of the dissolved NDP, was elected dean of Port Said University’s faculty of commerce, beating out four candidates including Mohamed Naguib, the faculty’s former dean.
At Cairo University, five former deans who had submitted their resignation won back their seats through elections in the faculties of engineering, Arabic language, computing and information, agriculture and law.
Popular faculty members including professor Hussein Khairy in the faculty of medicine and Hassan Emad of the mass communication faculty, won majority votes.
No longer opposition
“They [the MB] were a substitute for the previous regime, but now under fair and transparent elections, everyone favored those with the best skills,” said Amany Ahmed, member of Cairo University’s student union.
“[This is] just like our student union elections at Cairo University where only three faculties voted for Muslim Brotherhood youth,” she added.
Egypt’s public universities have historically been viewed as a forum for activists ever since former president Anwar Sadat’s days. Due to their political significance, these institutes were under a microscope with authorities tightening the reins on campus activities.
Following in the footsteps of his predecessor, ousted president Hosni Mubarak planted police units and state security agents on campuses, despite court orders to end the security guardianship over universities.
Previously, single-candidate student elections were commonplace, and the state security apparatus had the authority to approve all university heads, usually favoring affiliates of the NDP.
In post-Mubarak Egypt, the fight against corruption in the country’s education system has intensified, with activists working to bring those willing to reform their institutions into leadership positions.
Elections were closely monitored by committees set up from within the faculties, and only faculty members (professors and assistants) were allowed to vote.
Media reports have circulated claiming that the security department at Cairo University prepared a report on the candidates, classifying them according to political inclinations, causing an uproar by candidates who said it negatively influenced the poll and harkened back to Mubarak-era measures.
While no objections to the election results have yet arisen, some faculty members at universities whose deans and presidents did not resign are on strike until fair and transparent elections are also held.
Elections of university presidents are yet to take place.
