MB Helwan University Students Protest against Striking Them off Initial Lists

MB Helwan University Students Protest against Striking Them off Initial Lists

Muslim Brotherhood (MB) students at Helwan University staged sit-ins at offices of the deans of Faculties of Commerce and Science and other faculties in protest at striking their names off the initial lists of the student union elections.
 
The students demanded meeting the faculty deans to submit their complaints but the deans refused at the beginning to meet them.
 
 In the Faculty of Science, and after a long period of time, Dr. Mahmoud Hammam the faculty dean approved to meet only two students. When asked why names of the students have been stricken off although the measures taken are valid, Hammam said the students can sue the faculty or the university if the action of striking off their names doesn’t please them.
 
 Nearly the same reaction was repeated in the Faculty of Commerce and other faculties in the university.
 
 The demonstration of the students started on Thursday at noon as the students marched inside the campus to tell students that names of about 350 male and female students have been stricken off the election lists. They chanted slogans calling on the University President to allow the student union elections be held with freedom.
 
 
The students called, during the march, for boycotting the elections scheduled to be held next week because they are rigged from the beginning and will bring in state security vetted union not a students union.
 
 
Abdul Aziz Mogahed, the former free student union chief in the university, said that Dr. Rashad Abdul Latif, the university vice-president for education and student affairs told students on the nomination day that he will not strike any name off the election lists and that he delivered statements to Al-Gomhuria newspaper before the feast in which he confirmed elections will start in November.
 
The march toured the campus till it reached the building of the university president and the student stood there. The security has blocked the door to prevent the students from entering the building to meet the University President. The security also prevented other university students from joining the demonstration and warned the students against standing in front of the university president”s building.
 
 
A delegation of four students whose names were stricken of the election lists went to meet University President, Dr. Abdullah Barakat and the university vice-president Dr. Rashad Abdul Latif to protest and ask why they were stricken off the lists. Dr. Rashad Abdul Latif said that their names have been stricken off because the students are of a bad reputation and faced punishments. The students confirmed that these students are among the most distinguished, respected and superior students in their faculties and that the decisions of punishments were unjust. He said that he will look discuss this issue.
 
 
The students distributed a statement in which they reported the statements of University President, his deputy and the Minister of Higher Education who promised that the election process will be fair, in a full contradiction with what is happening on the ground.