Dr. Hossam Badrawi Official Website
The Supreme Council of Universities has a committee to choose university leaders. The committee sets the evaluations of choosing the best candidates for the Egyptian universities presidency. Lately, I read that Dr. Badrawi, the widely known politician, educational and medical cadre, stepped down from this committee membership because of his kinship to one of the candidates to avoid “Conflict of Interest” suspicion.
Bravo Dr. Badrawi .. Consolidation of this principle requires us to take a stand. There is lack of committing to Conflict of Interest principle in many Egyptian institutions, and the power of authority became a means to support relatives’ influence or prefer them in promotions. This contradicts with the prevailing logic in most countries. Recently, we have seen in the USA that appointing Robert Muller as a judge to the relationship between Trump’s campaign and Russia required him to resign from the private law office where he worked to be able to practice his work dependently. There are dozens of similar cases in all democratic countries which are based on the rule of law assure that “Conflict of Interest” eliminates neutrality. Dr. Hossam Badrawi stepped down from the membership of the committee that chooses university leaders because of his kinship to one of the candidates. But somewhere in the governmental work, there are other types of “interests” that “contradict” with some choices and appointments. However, nobody does what Dr. Badrawi did. There is no commitment to stable customs, traditions or laws that can make Dr. Badrawi’s behavior a frequent example.
There are personal relationships and marriages between men and women in former or current authority. They definitely affect the integrity and independence of decisions, trends and intentions. However, the people involving in these cases ignore this, or strive, if they can, to hide and cover it up. While their superiors appear “shy” of discussing such subjects. One of the most significant criticisms that were addressed to the regime before Jan 2011 operation was “doubling money with authority”. “Conflict of Interest” should not be a blemish on the current administration.
