Members of Egypt's Journalists Syndicate elected journalist and unionist Yehia Qallash on Friday as the new head of the syndicate.
Qallash got 1948 votes while his rival Diaa Rashwan, who eyed a second successive term in office as the syndicate's head, got 1079 in the elections that took 5 hours in Cairo and Alexandria.
According to the head of the judicial committee which supervised the elections, 3225 registered member in the syndicate participated in the elections.
Six candidates were already competing for the post of syndicate head, including Rashwan and Qallash.
A veteran unionist, Qallash works at state-owned Al-Gomhouria newspaper.
Rashwan, a political analyst and the head of Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, was elected as the head of the syndicate in March 2013.
The syndicate’s elections, which take place every two years, also include six seats on the 12-seat syndicate board.
Board members hold their posts for four years and the syndicate head for two.
Source: Ahram Online