Student union heads from seven universities have withdrawn from meetings of Egypt’s Coalition of Student Unions after Muslim Brotherhood students insisted on electing the head of the Union of Students in Egyptbefore new student bylaws are endorsed.
Sameh al-Mahy, assistant secretary for the ECSU, told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the student union heads from Cairo, Helwan, Assiut, Monufiya, Suez Canal, Port Said and Benha universities withdrew from the meetings, which started Saturday, to protest what they described as attempts by Brotherhood students to “dominate the union.”
Mahy said the meetings were intended to discuss the new student bylaws and how to conduct elections for the positions of union head, deputy head and executive office in conformance with the new bylaws. He added that holding the elections now would be illegal.
He added that he contacted the Public Prosecution and will submit a complaint, signed by the heads of the aforementioned unions on Sunday, to protest against conducting elections now.
The High Council for Universities allowed student unions to approve new bylaws guaranteeing fewer restrictions on student life and campus activity, before sending them to Parliament to be approved. After meeting with the higher education minister on 26 February, the HCU decided to put forward the new bylaws, drafted by a joint advisory council from the HCU and a group of public university student representatives, for approval at universities’ student unions before proceeding with getting them approved at a parliamentary level.
The bylaws were initially endorsed after a joint HCU and ECSU meeting in October 2011. Many criticized the meeting, which was reportedly attended by a member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, as being held in an atmosphere that encouraged government intervention and as not being representative of student bodies, as most ECSU members were appointed after hasty elections in March 2011 that saw a low voter turnout.
Many of those who won were the same students who ran the unions before the 25 January revolution, when State Security Investigation Services approved students based on their political affiliation.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
