Members of the syndicate earlier Friday (Photo: Independence current of engineers syndicate Facebook page)
Members of the Engineers' Syndicate gathered early Friday in Cairo Stadium to vote on a proposal for having an urgent general assembly meeting in order to withdraw confidence from the current syndicate board, controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood.
Non-Muslim Brotherhood members of the syndicate accused the current board of using syndicate resources to help the Brotherhood and of involving the syndicate in politics.
The independent current in the syndicate accused the board of not fulfilling electoral promises as well working for the sake of a terrorist group, in reference to the Muslim Brotherhood which was officially designated by the government as a terrorist organisation 25 December 2013.
The present head of the syndicate, Maged El-Kholousy, was elected in 2011 after nearly 17 years of judicial control following disputes in early 1990s.
Minister of Irrigation and Water Mohamed Abdel Motaleb already reported the current board of the syndicate to the prosecutor general, accusing the board of financial impropriety, including allocating money from the syndicate's pensions fund to the injured of pro-Morsi sit-ins at Rabaa Al-Adawiya and Al-Nahda squares, despite them not being members in the syndicate.
Pro-Muslim Brotherhood members urged their syndicate friends to head to Cairo Stadium to support for El-Kholousy and the current board.
The gathering at Cairo Stadium already witnessed chants and counter-chants from pro-Muslim Brotherhood and Morsi supporters and anti-Muslim Brotherhood syndicate members.
The call to withdraw confidence from the syndicate’s board and head comes after Muslim Brotherhood candidates were defeated in Doctors' Syndicate elections.
In December 2013, members of the Doctors' Syndicate in Cairo withdrew confidence from the body's pro-Muslim Brotherhood board and head and elected a new board comprised of independents after nearly two decades of Brotherhood control.
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