State-aligned Engineers Syndicate board members resign after failed bid to oust Nabrawy ended in Nation’s Future violent attack on vote counters

Six state-aligned members of the Engineers Syndicate board resigned from their positions in a press conference on Thursday night that saw key state ministers affirm their support in Tarek al-Nebrawy, the independent head of the syndicate, the rapporteur of the National Dialogue Industry Committee Bahaa Dimitry told Mada Masr. 

The members of the board who resigned in Thursday’s press conference, which was attended by Irrigation Minister Hani Sweilem and Transport Minister Kamel al-Wazir, include Secretary-General Yousry al-Deeb, Assistant Secretary-General Ahmed Sabry, Treasurer Mohamed Nasser, Assistant Treasurer Moataz Barakat, Senior Undersecretary Hossam Rizk and Undersecretary Ihab Khader. 

The announcement follows “tense negotiations” that Mada Masr reported on earlier this week between a state entity and Nebrawy over the fate of the syndicate after it was plunged into crisis when several Nation’s Future Party members rampaged through the election hall, smashing ballot boxes last week, after their attempts to engineer the ouster of Nebrawy through a no-confidence vote failed due to an overwhelming turnout in Nebrawy’s favor from syndicate members. 

Nebrawy submitted complaints to the prosecution on May 31 against the rival syndicate board members and state-aligned Nation’s Future Party members, accusing them of being responsible for the riots that took place at the syndicate general assembly on May 30. The Public Prosecution began investigating complaints submitted by the “competing parties” on June 1, as the state-aligned board members also submitted complaints against Nebrawy. 

According to three sources that spoke to Mada Masr, the tense negotiations that have played out in the last few days centered on Nebrawy withdrawing the complaints he submitted against the rival board members and Nation's Future Party. In return, the state would announce the result of the union's general assembly's vote to withdraw confidence from him, the preliminary results of which showed Nebrawy winning in a landslide. 

The resignation of the six members came as a result of the mediation efforts undertaken by the Sweilem and Wazir with Nebrawy, syndicate member Moaz Alwan told Mada Masr. Alwan added that the syndicate board, which consists of 63 members, is expected to convene in the coming days to choose new members to replace those who resigned on Thursday. 

During the press conference, Sweilem affirmed the state’s confidence in Nebrawy. 

“The majority of engineers and the Egyptian state confirm their confidence in Engineer Tarek al-Nebrawy as the president of the Engineers Syndicate and denounce what happened by a few who do not appreciate the role and status of the Engineers Syndicate and the role of engineers in building a modern Egypt,” Sweilem said.

Wazir conveyed the support of the president of the republic and the Cabinet to the engineers and called on them to withdraw the complaints they had submitted regarding the violence of May 30. 

However, a number of engineers in private WhatsApp communications seen by Mada Masr affirmed the Nebrawy front’s refusal to withdraw their complaints, emphasizing that Nebrawy himself had told the minister as much earlier this week. 

Nebrary affirmed on Wednesday in a statement on his Facebook page that he had not waived his intent to pursue the complaints submitted to the prosecution.