More than 24,000 candidates have applied for student union elections at Egyptian universities, Higher Education Minister Hussein Khaled said in a statement Tuesday.
Khaled’s announcement comes as dozens of students at Cairo, Ain Shams and Mansoura universities continue to protest his decision to apply the old elections bylaws, which students say violate their right to nomination and allow university leadership to interfere with their affairs.
Khaled said he hopes to endorse democratic practices within university campuses, calling upon students from all political stripes to take part in the process.
Elections at the universities of Assiut, Kafr al-Sheikh and Monufiya are witnessing heated competition between students affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood and others linked to different political groups.
The new bylaw proposed by opposing students is being discussed on the student and university levels to settle on its final form, Khaled said.
Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm
