The presidency's media bureau sent a formal letter to outgoing journalists syndicate head Diaa Rashwan on Sunday, two days after he lost in the syndicate's elections.

"We are pleased to inform you of the president's appreciation for your efforts during the last period of time for the sake of the profession of journalism and for responding to the demands and will of the Egyptian journalistic community," the letter, published on Al-Ahram Arabic news website, read.

The president also appreciates "the professional and service dynamism that the Egyptian journalistic environment witnessed," according to the letter.

Diaa Rashwan, head of Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, was elected leader of the syndicate in March 2013. 

The president's media bureau thanked Rashwan for how the elections came out in a way that honours "[his] deep-rooted history and all the members of the previous board of the journalists syndicate who succeeded in delivering the mantle to the next elected board in a way that makes the journalistic community proud."

Members of the syndicate elected on Friday journalist and unionist Yehia Qallash, who works at state-owned Al-Gomhouria newspaper, as the syndicate's head succeeding Rashwan.

Qallash got 1,948 votes while his rival Rashwan got 1,079 votes.

The president's media bureau praised the mutual respect between the candidates, the election process's objectivity and integrity, and "the results it led to" in an organised and healthy environment, according to the letter.

The bureau said this confirmed Rashwan's "good management" of the syndicate by "spreading the good spirit" among its general assembly.