A heated discussion broke out between the dean and vice dean of the University of Alexandria’s Faculty of Engineering over the removal of pictures of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak which cover the wall of the dean’s office.
Vice Dean Hamdi Seif had called for the removal of Mubarak posters from five faculty offices and replacing them with the Egyptian flag. Meanwhile Faculty Dean Adel al-Kurdi refused the proposal, claiming the posters were put up in accordance with official directives.
Seif said since Egypt is embarking on a new era, what he described as “outdated thoughts” must be deposed of. He went on to say that whether or not Mubarak remains in power, posters of presidents should not be hung on walls and that this practice is only found in third world countries with totalitarian governments.
“We spend thousands of pounds each year to renew the president’s posters in all institutions,” said Seif, pointing out that the Engineering Faculty alone had 15 old posters of the president in their warehouses and that replacing one poster costs LE500.
“I removed the posters from the offices and put up posters of the Egyptian flag in their place,” said Seif.
“I was surprised to hear al-Kurdi telling me that since these posters were placed in accordance with a directive, they would only be removed by a directive,” he said. “So I retorted that there was nothing in the Egyptian Constitution stipulating the placement or removal of posters of presidents.”
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
