Eight journalists are seeking the chair of the Press Syndicate and 43 candidates are competing for the six board seats that will be contested in the syndicate’s upcoming mid-term election, said Press Syndicate Secretary Gamal Abdel-Rehim.
The committee in charge of receiving candidacy requests will announce a final list at the end of this week after examining appeals.
The vote is set to take place on 2 May.
The syndicate has around 12,000 members and for the vote to be valid, a quorum of 50 per cent plus one is required, meaning more than 6,000 journalists will need to cast a ballot. Should this not happen, a second ballot will be held two weeks later with a reduced quorum of 25 per cent.
Candidates for the post of chair include the incumbent Khaled Al-Balshi, Abdel-Mohsen Salama, former board chair of Al-Ahram Establishment and a member of the National Press Authority (NPA), Sayed Al-Iskandrani and Nora Rashed from Al-Gomhouriya newspaper, Talaat Hashem from Misr Al-Fatah, Mohamed Badawi from the online publication Al-Ghad, and Mohamed Maghrabi from Al-Shaab.
Journalists vying to secure a seat on the board include Maher Maqlad (Al-Ahram), Hussein Al-Zanati (Al-Ahram), Maher Maqlad (Al-Ahram), Mohamed Khoraga (Al-Ahram), Ismail Al-Awami (Al-Ahram), Amr Badr (Al-Dostour), Ayman Abdel-Meguid (Rose El-Youssef), Mohamed Saad Abdel-Hafez (Al-Shorouk), Mohamed Said (Akhbar Al-Youm), Alaa Omran (Al-Gomhouriya), and Mahasen Al-Senoussi (Al-Masry Al-Youm).
The election will be overseen by a judicial committee comprised of members of the Administrative Prosecution Authority. The syndicate’s General Assembly will also form a committee to monitor the ballot.
The election will be held against a backdrop of high inflation fuelled by regional instability. As a result, candidate campaigns are expected to focus on increasing journalists’ salaries and pensions.
Salama and Al-Balshy — considered the frontrunners in the race to become chair — began their election campaigns this week.
Salama said he would soon announce a package of financial incentives for journalists.
“It will be the first of its kind in the history of the Press Syndicate. It will increase journalists’ salaries and pensions so they can overcome the difficult economic conditions they face,” he said.
Salama added he had received assurances from the Finance Ministry that it will increase funds allocated to training and technological allowances — in 2023, the allowance was raised by LE600 to LE 3,760 — and said that his platform aims to restore the strength of the syndicate, enhance its role in defending the rights of journalists, and build an inclusive syndicate that represents journalists from all backgrounds.
He stressed the importance of raising the professional and technical level of journalists across national, private, partisan, and independent press organisations, adding that his platform will “contain tangible steps to enhance the freedom of the press”.
The challenges facing the newspaper industry in the age of digital communication are the same the world over, he said. New technology is impacting all aspects of the traditional media, including subscriptions, circulation, and advertising revenues.
Laying out his stall, Salama noted that his achievements during his 2017-2019 tenure as head of the Press Syndicate, including establishing a training institute and providing essential medical services to journalists, attest to his commitment to achieving tangible gains for journalists, and vowed that if he wins he will use his post to build a new hospital for journalists where they can receive inexpensive medical treatment.
Al-Balshi, a left-leaning journalist, visited different publications at Al-Ahram this week. He warned that maintaining good relations with the government and state officials alone will not solve the problems journalists face.
“Achieving concrete gains for journalists will require negotiation and constructive dialogue with all state authorities,” he said.
Al-Balshi pointed to the conference the Press Syndicate held in December, saying it clearly showed that journalists are not only feeling the pinch of higher living costs but are also hampered by the lack of press freedom.
“If I win, I will do my best to implement the conference’s recommendations to raise journalists’ incomes and allowances so they can meet their basic needs against the backdrop of high inflation rates, and in coordination with state authorities and the House of Representatives, I plan to amend legislation that threatens press freedoms. The state should view the press as the voice of citizens and not the enemy.”
Al-Balshi noted that 24 journalists have been held in custody, 15 of them for more than two years, adding: “During my two-year tenure in office as head of the syndicate, I was able, through negotiation with the prosecutor-general and state officials, to secure the release of 12 journalists from prison.”
Syndicate board member Mohamed Saad Abdel-Hafez characterised the Press Syndicate’s sixth conference held in December as one of the most remarkable achievements during Al-Balshi’s tenure.
“The conference highlighted the desperate need for greater press freedoms in Egypt and that this will not be possible without changing press laws, increasing the number of independent and opposition newspapers, and raising the salaries of Egyptian journalists,” said Abdel-Hafez.
