Winning MB Journalists Ready to Cooperate with Gov’t Backed Chief

Days ago, the elections of the Egyptian Press Syndicate were wrapped up and government backed candidate for the chief Makram Mohamed Ahmed was declared a winner. Makram”s win is considered a government”s tactic towards undermining the movement of independence inside the syndicate spearheaded by a coalition of both the Egyptian Leftist powers and the Muslim Brotherhood group.

Despite the government”s relief towards Makram”s win, it was disappointed by the opposition wins. Two of the three Muslim Brotherhood candidates in addition to other two anti-government candidate won seats in the board of the syndicate. These other two candidates are Yahya Qallash, a former Syndicate Secretary-General and Gamal Fahmi, a former board member in the syndicate. Both of them are bitter foes to sentences of jailing four editors-in-chief of top Egyptian opposition newspapers under claims of offending Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak .

That election result has reportedly spawned a kind of conflict inside the board of the Press Syndicate, a conflict between the will of the chief journalist and that of his board members. It is actually a conflict between the ruling party”s government and the will of the Egyptian opposition groups en masse.

Commenting on the new board of the Press Syndicate, Salah Abdul Maqsoud, a fourth time elected Press Syndicate board member who claims the biggest haul of services inside the syndicate, confirmed that he will as a MB candidate extend his hands to Makram Mohamed Ahmed and he will cooperate with him as much as he can for the sake of the press community. He said also that he will start the new term of the syndicate with an open heart for all colleagues across the political and intellectual spectrum. He stressed also that he won”t give adman to any political affiliation during his work in the syndicate so that he and his colleagues work together for the welfare of all journalists.

Abdul Maqsoud confirmed also that the current coalition between the Muslim Brotherhood and Egyptian Leftist powers inside the syndicate will continue like previous syndicate rounds.

He also added that the syndicate will remain open for all Egyptians and all Arabs and it will be closed only in the face of the Zionists so that it helps every one to give vent to his ordeal, cause or problem. He added along with the other MB colleague, the elected board member Mohamed Abdul Qoddous that they represent all journalists because all journalists, not only MB ones, voted for them.

Asked how the government vetted candidate, Makram Mohammed Ahmed, won the post of the press syndicate chairman although the opposition slate won most seats in the board, Abdul Maqsoud said that the gains that Makram managed to get contributed to his win. Add to this the fact that he is a big unionist and journalist who has been working throughout half a century. This has definitely contributed to his win.

Mohsen Radi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood parliamentary bloc and the one responsible for the journalists file in the group, said that the relation between the new board and the journalists head, Makram Mohamed Ahmed, should be based on a constructive cooperation in a way that serves the press community across the political and religious spectrum. Radi advised the chief journalist not to monopolize decisions and that he should consult the syndicate board members. Radi shrugged off any fears of a potential conflict  inside the Press Syndicate between the head and his board, seeing it as unreasonable and not right, special under statements issued by Makram Mohamed Ahmed in which he underlined his readiness to cooperate with all movements inside the syndicate for the sake of the press community en masse .