The syndicate council composed of 12 members as well as members of various political parties have begun to defend journalists from the abuse they have received at the hands of official groups.
Mahbub Ali announced his resignation that was refused by the government last week.
The campaign against the journalist syndicate began via news sites connected with the military. The government rephrased the news and distributed it via newspapers like Al-Thawra on last Tuesday. It was reported that there were to be elections inside the journalist syndicate to choose new leadership. However, this information came by way of anonymous sources.
Last Thursday Al-Thawra published an article by a journalist from Al-Mithaq entitled "The Journalist’s Syndicate Protected by God." He stated in it that the syndicate no longer exists because of the resignation of the leader as well as that of Samir Al-Yusufi, Ahmed Al-Jibli, and Hafiz Al-Bikari.
It was not disclosed whether or not elections took place to choose a new leadership. Al-Wai’ili wonders who published false statements in the name of the syndicate. He believes that the reasons for the current crisis are connected with party politics and political allegiances among members of the parliament. He ends his article with a call for new elections.
He agrees with Iskander Al-Sabahi, editor in chief of Al-Mithaq concerning the idea of holding a special meeting. He also stated that the crisis of the syndicate reflects the crisis of the profession. He believes that this will be a positive opportunity for the profession to overcome its crisis. The attacks have increased since 2004 due to party politics as well as failure of the syndicate’s administration.
Others believe that holding elections as a way to distort the current council and to incite others against its members. A survey conducted by the newspaper 22 May discovered that many believe the current problem is due to party in-fighting.
The syndicate itself has not issued any press release. The majority of journalists prefer silence.
Sami Ghaleb defended the syndicate in his article published in Al-Nida’ under the title "The Governmental Quagmire and the Journalists’ Syndicate." He considers this as a war waged by the government against journalism in order to raise party strife and incite anger against its members. This campaign began after the leader of the syndicate presented his resignation and following the joint parties’ support of it. He was surprised by this after a cordial visit between the minister of information and the syndicate which was considered a first step by a government official.
Al-Thawra published an article that stated "there are accusations of deals being made between journalists and foreign embassies in order to execute suspicious projects. However, do not forget the doubt surrounding MPs and their evil intentions towards the syndicate."
The author, Al-Majidi, stated that the reason for the attacks comes from the profession’s defense of several journalists who underwent attacks and death threats as well as their opposition to laws that would restrict journalistic freedom.
