Preliminary results of the first Agricultural Syndicate elections in 17 years showed that Muslim Brotherhood-backed candidate Abdel Salam Gomaa was elected head of the syndicate. The elections started last Thursday.
Gomaa, the former chairman of the syndicate, was leading the “Agriculture for Renaissance” electoral coalition backed by the Brotherhood.
However, the Brotherhood’s candidates did not fare so well in the syndicate’s governorate offices.
For example, they failed to garner a single seat in Ismailia. The group also lost the chairmanship of the governorate offices of Minya, Assiut, Matrouh, Beheira and Qalyubiya.
The group, which has famously dominated professional syndicates, secured the governorate chairmanship in Cairo, Giza, Damietta, Beheira, Alexandria, Fayoum and Daqahlia.
Results showed that the group did not secure a majority in the syndicate elections in Damietta, winning five seats out of 11 and the governorate chairmanship.
The group lost seats in Minya and Assiut, in addition to seats in Beheira and Qalyubiya, Al-Tahrir daily said.
The Brotherhood’s coalition in Damietta and Daqahlia, both of which are strongholds for the group, made a hard win with margins of 5-100 votes. Al-Tahrir speculated that this calls the Muslim Brotherhood’s grip on trade unions in Egypt into question.
The election marks one of the few professional syndicate elections in which the Brotherhood did not secure a clear victory. Last month, the Brotherhood suffered losses in the Lawyers Syndicate elections.
