War of words at Engineers Syndicate general assembly

A war of words took place on Friday between engineers supporting and those opposing the Muslim Brotherhood-led board of the Engineers Syndicate.

An emergency general assembly meeting was held in Cairo stadium after 176 members submitted a request to withdraw confidence from the board.

Engineers opposed to the current board chanted for Defense Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, whereas Brotherhood supporters flashed Rabaa signs and chanted against the military and police.

Cairo governor Galal al-Saeed, a member of the syndicate, was attacked by pro-MB engineers after he cast his ballot.

An estimated 20,000 engineers voted on the measure, according to Wael al-Degwy, the head of the committee in charge of conducting the vote.

Some syndicate members complained of alleged voter irregularities saying that engineers were transferred to the syndicate's headquarters in buses belonging to the Arab Contractors Company.

Others complained that they did not find their names although they are registered voting members.

The emergency meeting took place after the current board refused to respond to the request of those seeking its removal.

According to the law, if the board fails to respond in 30 days, the request would be transferred to Mohamed Abdel Motteleb, the minister of water resources and irrigation, who in turn would call for the emergency general assembly.

The syndicate's board challenged the minister's decision before the administrative court but the case was rejected last Sunday.

A number of news reports said that a majority of engineers voted for withdrawing confidence from the board.