Elections at the Lawyers Syndicate general assembly on Sunday resulted in the renewal of confidence in syndicate head Sameh Ashour and his council, according to a statement from the committee observing the elections.
The statement noted that the majority voted for the current syndicate board and Ashour. They received 9,974 votes from members, while 3,080 voted to withdraw confidence.
The vote was scheduled after hundreds of lawyers demanded the ouster of Ashour.
Lawyer Montaser Al-Zayat told Daily News Egypt: ”the elections were illegal. Ashour was directing the lawyers in the south, especially in the Upper Egypt governorates. However, votes against him were high in Helwan, Alexandria, South Cairo, and South Giza.”
During the elections, fights occurred between supporters and opponent’s lawyers. Some lawyer’s assaulted journalists who were assigned to cover the elections and damaged their cameras and equipment.
Ashour apologised in a statement to the journalists who were assaulted or insulted during the elections and demanded an immediate investigation into the incidents. He also asked for all journalists to submit videos showing moments of assault in order to identify the perpetrators.
