Doctors' Syndicate election (Photo: Al-Ahram)
Preliminary indications of the Doctors' Syndicate election show that the Independence List won 11 out of 12 contested seats in the union's mid-term elections, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported Saturday.
The mid-term elections, which are held every two years, contest half of the syndicate's seats, 12 out of 24, as well as half of the seats of every governorate branch.
In December 2013, the List won 11 of syndicate's board seats, which means that the list now holds the majority on the board.
The Independence list includes members of Doctors Without Rights and Tahrir Doctors, both activist groups, as well as independent candidates. It made a first appearance as an electoral coalition in 2011.
Since 2011, doctors have mobilised to demand an increase in physicians' minimum wage, along with better working conditions.
The first nationwide doctors strike, initially campaigned for by Doctors Without Rights, took place in May 2011 and included most public hospitals and several university hospitals. The strikers' demands included increasing doctors' minimum wage and raising the national health budget from 3.5 percent to 15 percent of GDP.
The syndicate also held a partial strike from October 2012 to March 2013 to put pressure on the government to meet their demands for increased wages and improved working conditions, particularly for doctors working in the public sector.
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