Parliament 2025 elections: A quick guide

Here is a quick fact box about the first stage parliamentary elections in Egypt that will kick off on Monday.

Domestic voting will take place in two phases, on 10–11 and 24–25 November 2025, to determine the composition of the 596-seat chamber, divided almost evenly between 284 individual seats and 284 filled through the absolute closed party-list system, with an additional 28 members appointed by presidential decree.

10,893 polling stations will be set up — 5,606 for the first phase and 5,287 for the second — under the supervision of 9,600 judges from the Administrative and State Councils.

The first phase will cover 14 governorates — Giza, Beni Suef, Fayoum, Minya, Assiut, New Valley, Sohag, Qena, Luxor, Aswan, Red Sea, Alexandria, Beheira, and Marsa Matrouh — with 284 seats contested.

The remaining governorates will take part in the second phase on 24-25 November in 13 governorates —Cairo, Qalyubia, Dakahlia, Monufia, Sharqia, Gharbia, Kafr el-Sheikh, Damietta, Port Said, Ismailia, Suez, North Sinai, and South Sinai.

Four coalition lists — the Popular List, Your Voice for Egypt List, Call of Egypt List, and Generation List — were disqualified for failing to meet the legal and procedural requirements set by the National Election Authority (NEA).

As a result, the National Unified List for Egypt was the only coalition list approved to contest all four designated electoral constituencies.

This means that 284 seats have been filled via the absolute closed party list systems already, without elections technically.

This means that 284 seats have already been filled through the absolutely closed party-list system — effectively without real elections. The system has faced heavy criticism for this reason. Supporters, mostly pro-regime voices, argue that it helps ensure representation for minorities such as women and Christian Egyptians.

In reality, however, it does not.

This marks the second consecutive parliamentary election in which the coalition list has been approved.

The only difference is that the National Front Party has joined the coalition led by the Nation’s Future Party.

Egypt is divided into four party-list constituencies comprising 284 seats: Cairo and the Central and Southern Delta (102 seats); North, Central, and South Upper Egypt (102 seats); Eastern Delta (40 seats); and Western Delta (40 seats).

Days at the Egyptian Museum of Cairo : The Canopus Decree Stela “Happy Egyptian New Year 6267, Happy Coptic New Year 1741”

Happy Egyptian New Year 6267, Happy Coptic New Year 1742

Today, 11 September, marks “1 Tut,” the first day of the Ancient Egyptian Year 6267, according to the ancient Egyptian calendar.

It is also the first day of the Coptic Year 1742 AM.

Tut refers to Thoth, in case you do not know "Thoth by Midjourney"

As I do every year, I’ll repeat the reminder that the Ancient Egyptian/Coptic New Year begins on 1 Tut, which usually falls on 11 or 12 September in the Gregorian calendar. This calendar continues to be used in Egypt today to determine the dates of religious feasts—particularly in the Coptic Church—and to mark the agricultural seasons.

On this occasion, I’d like to share a unique and monumental piece at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo: the great limestone stela of the Canopus Decree in honor of Ptolemy III.

The Canopus Decree in honor of Ptolemy III at the Egyptian Museum of Cairo

The Canopus Decree is a trilingual inscription—carved in hieroglyphs, Demotic, and Greek—and stands as the second-earliest example of such trilingual decrees.

The most famous of these, of course, is the Rosetta Stone (which, needless to say, should return to Rosetta, Egypt).

The decree commemorates a grand assembly of priests held at the city of Canopus, on the outskirts of modern Alexandria, to honor Ptolemy III Euergetes of the Ptolemaic dynasty, along with his wife Queen Berenice and Princess Berenice.

Alexandria Storm: Unusual Weather for This Time of Year "Updated"

For the record, the Egyptian Meteorological Authority did warn of rain on the Western North Coast — but it did not mention that it would be a full-blown thunderstorm capable of paralyzing a city preparing for summer.

A thunderstorm did indeed strike Alexandria and Matrouh, but its impact on Alexandria was especially severe, with the city appearing to be overflooded once again.

According to many Alexandrians commenting online, this was an unprecedented storm — unlike anything they had seen in decades, not even during the winter.

Alexandrians tend to have their own informal calendar for storms, and it seems that tonight’s event doesn’t correspond to any known seasonal patterns.

Ramadan Arabian Nights 2024 : Scheherazade tells you Ramadan Kareem from Egypt and “#CeasefireNow in #Gaza” {Updated}

First, Ramadan Kareem

Second, I cannot post the usual Ramadan 1001 Arabian Audio Nights as I have done in the past years and there are two genocides taken on Egypt’s borders whether in Gaza or in Sudan.

1001 Arabian Audio Nights are another Egyptian entertainment tradition to celebrate the Holy Month, but it is not time to celebrate and entertain when millions of people including Arabs and Muslims are displaced and starving by the worst kind of armies and militias in both nations as the world especially our shameful Arab world is just a spectator.

Ramadan decorations in an Egyptian alley in a Giza working-class area
The Palestinian flag "Muhammed Hamdy"

There is another Egyptian tradition that we have been taught since childhood, do not raise the sound of music or hold any festivities if your neighbour has lost someone and is in mourning. I was taught that lesson personally by my own grandma may Allah bless her soul. 

Two of our closest neighbours are not only mourning but they are also displaced, starved and killed.

We can’t enter the aid and we can’t stop the genocides yet the least thing we can do to them is to lower the TVs and radios. 

This is what I believe and honestly, I have no appetite whatsoever to watch any TV series or gossip show in that TV Ramadan marathon.

FYI: I had hopes for the truce and even prepared something if the truce was made but then Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu does not want a truce or any ceasefire because he knows it is his end for real.

Third, despite there will be no 1001 Arabian Audio Nights this year, there are other important things to share that it is timely. 

For instance: This post shows you how working-class and rural Egypt celebrated Palestine and Gaza during Ramadan.

Eid El-Fitr in photos: Egypt’s edition

Happy Eid to all Muslims and all the people around the globe.

Happy Eid to all Muslims whether they started celebrating Eid El-Fitr on Friday or will start celebrating it on Saturday.

Yes, some countries celebrate Eid El-Fitr on Friday and some others on Saturday. In fact, some countries even have two different dates

In fact, some countries even have two different dates! For example, in Libya, the eastern parts started celebrating on Friday while the western parts started on Saturday. Meanwhile, Sunni Muslims in Iraq began their celebrations on Friday, while Shiia Muslims will start on Saturday.

Regardless of which day you celebrate, the spirit of Eid remains the same, Happy Eid.

To mark this special occasion, I wanted to share a collection of photos taken by Egypt's talented photographers. They captured the joy and beauty of Eid prayers in Cairo and beyond. Take a look and feel the happiness!

Wishing everyone a blessed and joyful Eid celebration.

Here is the Eid Prayer which was held across Egypt in the early morning on Friday from Giza’s Abu Sir and you can see Abu Sir pyramids in the background in the amazing shot by all measures.

The photo is taken from Abu Sir Mount or hill by Sahl Abdel Rahman

A child, balloons, and a pyramid. 

After 12 years Khaled Said’s family receives a compensation in case you do not know

The news came on 30 December 2021 and it was like a true blast of the past.

A Cairo Court ordered that the family of Khaled Said to be compensated with one million pounds for his murder by two low-ranking policemen in June 2010.

Yes, after 12 years his family is compensated by one million Egyptian pounds for his murder that was a turning point for Egypt in decades.

Late Khaled Said in a photo with his late mom Mrs Laila Marzouk and 
his sister Zahra (Zahra Said)

The trial was filed by the Egyptian Center for Economic and social rights in 2018 on behalf of Khaled Said family represented by his mother late Mrs Laila Marzouk.

Alexandria was hit a by snowstorm this week

Filed under: What is happening in Alexandria? , Egypt’s once summer capital Alexandria saw an unprecedented snowstorm earlier this week.

It snowed earlier Monday Alexandria was hit by some sort of snowstorm left many of the streets covered in white !! 

St. Catherine Square in Alexandria early Monday "Amira Tarek"

Already this week marks the time of another seasonal rainstorm,  “El-Fiada El-Soghra” or “The Minor flume”. Supposedly this snowstorm was at its peak.

Egypt is currently facing a wave of cold weather this week but Alex and its North coast sister cities have had their share from rainfall.

The snow on Monday did not stay too long, it melted and was water.

The photos of Alexnadira are viral now. 

Alexandria’s latest wave : Just big tidal wave or Climate change is here to stay !?

On Wednesday, Egypt’s Alexandria witnessed a huge tidal wave that reached over five metres-high reaching into streets and destroying seafront buildings.

Alexandrians are used to big tidal waves especially before or during their annual Nawat or storms. Within a day or two, the Maiden of Mediterranean city will meet “Nawaa Kassem” or Kassem Storm. The city has just recovered from another storm from a couple of weeks ago.

Yet what happened on Wednesday was new even for the Alexandrians when it comes to the height of the tidal wave and its force.

The Tidal wave that destroyed part of the corniche fence in Lauran on Wednesday
Amir Mansour 

A video that went viral Thursday in Egypt was filmed on Wednesday shows the Engineers Syndicate Club at Saba Pasha district on the seafront flooded by a high tidal wave.

Alexandria : The first drowning in the rainfall season

Since Saturday or late Friday, Egypt was hit by a wave of unstable weather conditions, especially on the Northern coast.

It was not a surprise, it was expected that the wave would start on Saturday and conclude by Tuesday according to the Egyptian Meteorological Authority “EMA” since last week. Not to mention this is the time of what is commonly known in Alexandria as “Nawat El-Muknesa” or “The Broom storm”.

Alexandria has those “Nawaat” or storms known by date whether according to the Egyptian Coptic calendar or the Gregorian calendar.

Despite the warnings, we found photos like this showing the streets flooded with water after rainfall.

The famous black and yellow Alexandria Taxi drowned in rainwater after
the storm "Mostafa Hassan Via Documentaries 2020"

We have also those crazy videos too

This Nawat El-Muknesa or the Broom storm is actually the first storm in the storms season and not the strongest among them in the first place.

Kodak Agfa Presents : Some of Princess Fawzia’s Jewelry at Alexandria’s Royal Jewelry Museum in photos

On 5 November From 100 years ago, a baby girl was born in Alexandria, Egypt.

She was born as a true real living princess, her father was a king of one of the greatest and oldest kingdoms in the East. Like in a fairy tale, She was a stunning beauty.

After her father’s death, her eldest brother became the king.

Soon she also married a crown prince of another great Eastern kingdom. In a couple of years, that crown prince became his country’s King or rather Shah and she became the queen.

You would think that she would live happily ever after just like in Disney’s films for princesses yet the reality is different from fiction and late Princess Fawzia Fouad of Egypt knew that first hand.

A hairpin made of diamonds with the name of Princess Fawzia in Arabic 

Now on this occasion, I would like to share this collection of jewelry that was owned by the former Queen of Iran at Alexandria’s Royal Jewelry Museum.

Late Princess Fawzia in the late 1940s 

Yup, there is a jewelry collection of Egypt’s legendary sad beauty Princess Fawzia Fouad at this often forgotten less-known yet wealthy museum.

Tiktok dispatch #1 Welcome to the Jungle

Lately, I have been spending more and more time on Tiktok.

I have become addicted to the short video-sharing Chinese media platform that took the world by storm. Tiktok has had its own storm in Egypt’s legal system after its endless controversy whether the sad Tiktok girls saga or the Tiktok racist bullies. It earned a bad reputation.

Older generations still consider it the social media platform of vice where women pimp themselves thanks to the endless Tiktok girls arrested in the media every couple of weeks whereas older Upper classes look at it as a vulgar social media platform of lower classes sing and dance on awful Mahraganat music that should be banned altogether.

Ironically those old Upper classes do not realize that their young actually are active on the platform like any youth in the world nowadays and present interesting content.

For me, as I dig more and I change my choice algorithm, it became another way for me to see that other Egypt usually ignored or forgotten in the mainstream media.

I remember seeing that small protest organized by a group of angry high school students against the Education Minister in front of the Education Ministry in Downtown Cairo following the announcement of the Thanaweya Amma results of the 2020/21 academic year. Almost all news websites ignored this small protest.

I knew through it about great talents.

Like Mr Sayed who used to work in a simple poor workshop but Tiktok and social media changed his life thanks to some Tweets. This is the first video I have ever seen for him and I could not ignore it.

Happy Orthodox Easter 2021 from Egyptian Chronicles

Happy Orthodox Easter from Egyptian Chronicles to all those celebrating it especially in Egypt from dear Coptic Orthodox Egypt.

On this occasion, I would like to share this quick photo taken on the Wadi Al-Natroun-Alamein Highway in Summer 2020 for one of the famous Wadi Al-Natroun Christian Monasteries.

An Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Monastery 

I can't pinpoint which monastery it is, if you do know then please leave a comment. I will be very grateful. 

Wadi Al-Natroun or Al-Natroun valley includes a series of oldest monasteries, not only in Egypt but in the world. Wadi Al-Natroun is also one of the places that were visited by the Holy Family when they came to Egypt.

I hope one day inshallah I can visit this area and see all those places.

This year and due to the coronavirus outbreaks, all the visits to the monasteries are cancelled currently for the time being.

Please stay safe, stay home, keep your social distance and mask on and register to get the vaccine as soon as possible.

Coronavirus on the Nile : COVID-19 in three months in Egypt “Graphs”

I am not an expert in statistics but I know the power of numbers.

I gathered the numbers of Coronavirus in Egypt since its outbreak in February 2020 when a Chinese citizen tested positive for COVID-19.

Sensitizing the Great Pyramid of Giza
by Roger Anis

Needless to say, the real outbreak of the virus started in March with the infamous case of ASara Nile Cruise in Luxor, Upper Egypt.

In the same month, Some Egyptians who live and work in Italy returned back carrying the virus and many of those Egyptians lived in Nile Delta governorates.

They entered the country as it seems without proper medical testing.

The initial mass outbreak began in March and it grew in April but unfortunately, the real massive outbreak happened in May or rather the Holy Month of Ramadan when the government shortened the partial curfew imposed and people began to socialize as usual in the holy month.

From covering closely the cases and the official numbers day by day as they are released by the Egyptian Ministry of Health and WHO Egypt, I made this graph showing the COVID-19 daily cases and how it grows day by day since March.

I did not include the case of February but it is still counted. 

Coronavirus on the Nile : Sham El-Nassim in time of COVID-19

It is that beautiful time of Spring in Egypt, it is Sham El-Nassim.

It is Egypt’s oldest Celebration day that Egyptians have kept celebrating since the time of ancient Egypt till the 21st century.

But this year, it is Coronavirus that have locked down millions and millions of people in their homes in the past three months.

It is probably one of the few Sham El-Nassim Days in the history of our old Nation where people are forced to stay to at home because the government shut down all the parks, shops and beaches till Tuesday morning to curb the public gatherings and thus the spread of Coronavirus.

Egypt has already recorded over 3000 Coronavirus cases including over 200 deaths and over 700 full recovered cases.

Now here is a couple of photos from Cairo and Alexandria showing rare scenes but to be frank it seems that Mother Nature began to restore its health in Egypt too.

Here is Cairo on Sham El-Nassim by Moussa El-Zarif. 

An overview for Zamalek by Moussa El-Zarif 

October bridge between Zamalek and Agouza by Moussa El-Zarif

Here is a couple of Photos from Alexandria and it is an unbelievable scene for the Corniche.

Coronavirus on the Nile : A new week with a huge challenge "Live updated"

It is the start of a new week in Egypt in the time of the Coronavirus and somehow it started with a huge challenge as the total number of Coronavirus patients is closer than ever to become 1000. The government has warned before that the situation can be difficult if we passed the 1000 patients. 

It is a huge challenge because the same government seems okay with the return of workers in factories and construction projects for the sake of the economy.

Sensitizing the Great Pyramid of Giza's Guards booth
"Neriman El-Mofty for AP"

According to the Housing ministry's spokesperson on Thursday that "4 Million Construction workers will return to construction sites and projects on Saturday " !! 

It is another week with another live update event in an attempt to gather important news, reports and numbers. 

Coronavirus on the Nile : Egypt suspends study , the Coronavirus patients number jumps to 110 , Study suspended for 15 days and Matt Swider is on his way home “Updated”

There are huge developments in Egypt concerning the Coronavirus pandemic in the country.

First of Egypt’s ministry of health and World Health Organization announced Saturday evening that the number of Coronavirus patients in Egypt jumped into 110 after the registration of 17 new positive cases in the country officially.

أعلنت @mohpegypt اليوم تسجيل ١٧ حالة ايجابية جديدة لمرض كوفيد-19، والحالات هي ٣ أجانب من جنسيات مختلفة، و١٤ مصريا منهم حالة عائدة من السعودية والأخرى من الإمارات، والباقين من المخالطين للحالات الإيجابية التي تم اكتشافها والإعلان عنها مسبقًا.ليصبح مجمل الإصابات بمصر ١١٠ حالة.

— WHO Egypt (@WHOEgypt) March 14, 2020

According to the official statements, the 17 cases include 3 foreigners and 14 Egyptians.

A street in Alexandria's Sidi Bishr
street sensitized "Twitter"

The 14 Egyptians include an infected person who has returned from Saudi Arabia and another one from Emirates. It is worth mentioning that KSA suspended flights with Egypt and the UAE is said to stop issuing Visa for a couple of days according to travel agents in Egypt.

The statement added that the rest of the cases contracted the virus from previously announced cases.

We know according to official statements that among the new batch of patients,  students in 7 Egyptian schools in different areas including Zamalek, Cairo as in “City International School”, Giza, Alexandria and Sharkia.

There are some contradicting official statements concerning the students in the schools that contracted the virus. The minister of education Tarek Shawky stated earlier Saturday that there were "6 Children" that tested positive for Coronavirus in schools in "Giza, Alexandria and Sharkia" without giving further details.

On the other hand , Minister Hala Zayid on of health stated on TV that there are only "2 Children" that contracted the virus in two different schools and the "rest contracted the virus from previously registered cases".

She added that one of the patients was also a teacher and not a student.

This is the first time we know that there are confirmed and recognized cases in Alexandria and Sharkia.

So far Coronavirus has reported an outbreak in Luxor, Hurghada “Red Sea”, “Sidi Bishr” Alexandria, Zamalek and Heliopolis “Cairo”, Giza , Sharkia "Biblies: and Mansoura.

We know also two of the Egyptian cases are two ladies from Alexandria.

They contracted the virus from their brother who returned Egypt in a visit along with his Italian wife. Both their brother and their Italian sister-in-law were tested positive earlier for Coronavirus.

The two ladies live in Sidi Bishr district in Alexandria and the health directorate reportedly sensitized the streets there. They were transferred to the quarantine hospital in Alexandria, yes we are in the stage where local hospitals allocate a whole ward to quarantine Coronavirus patients if needed. 

From a couple of hours ago, Egypt’s Abdel Fattah El-Sisi issued a directive to suspend Study nationwide for two weeks “15 days” starting on Sunday, 15 March 2020

Friday 20th small and rare protests in Video : They are real

Some Pro-regime supporters in Egypt say that the videos of those anti-president small and rare protests of Friday were fabricated and fake but they were actually real.

Already if there were no protests then what those 1298 people arrested on Friday and detained doing in the streets !? According to the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights “ECESR” at least 1298 people were detained in September 2019 across the country.

The protesters in Tahrir square

Those people or detainees are accused of illegal “protesting” so how come there were no protests.

There were small protests in different parts of Egypt including Cairo’s iconic Tahrir square on 20 Friday 2019 against current President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and there is video to prove that.

They were called for by current self-exiled whistleblower and former longtime army contractor Mohamed Ali from Barcelona to put an end for Sisi’s rule.

These videos have been authenticated and verified as original and not fake or old. The videos show how those small protests actually continued until the early hours of the morning.

It is true that some Pro-Muslim Brotherhood social media accounts used old protests’ photos and videos as if they were shot on 20 Friday 2019 but soon enough they debunked.
Anyhow here are the videos after the break.

Concerning this rare and small Friday protest in Tahrir and elsewhere : Something has happened

A security Source told Egyptian and foreign media on Friday that 55 people were arrested for protesting and assembly illegally in Cairo’s Tahrir square.
This is the last news we got about those small and rare protests in Egypt especially in iconic Tahrir Square on Friday.

From that small protest and rare protest in Cairo's Tahrir square "Amr Abdullah/Reuters"

Reuters was the first to use the words “rare” and “small” perfectly but I believe these protests would have a bigger impact in the upcoming days.

Friday evening, small protests made of tens to hundreds in some cities broke across the country.
Their numbers are not many in a country of 100 million but still, it is an act that surprised many Egyptians and may encourage others for going back to the streets if there is no violent crackdown.

Official Numbers : 32.5% of the Egyptians are under the Egyptian poverty line

On Monday, Egypt’s Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics “CAPMAS” announced that 32.5% of Egyptians are living under the Egyptian poverty line currently according to the results of its 2017/2018 income survey.
Yes, you read it right 1/3 of the Egyptian population are currently living under the Egyptian poverty line.

Egyptian Poverty Line from 1999/2000 to 2017/2018
Infogram

We are currently 101,333,931 people according to the latest numbers of the UN, one-third of them are living under poverty officially.
According to CAPMAS, the Egyptian poverty line is estimated to be LE 735.7 a month (USD 44.47)
There is a 4.7% increase in the number of Egyptians living in poverty line in 2017/18 comparing to 27.8% in 2015.
In its 69-pages-survey, CAPMAS stated the extreme poverty line is estimated to be LE 490 a month in Egypt in 2017/18 and that are 6.2 million Egyptians living beneath that line.

Another brick in the wall : The tablet system and high school students saga “Updated”

Earlier on Monday , Egypt’s tens of Egyptian students in First Secondary stage “High school sophomores” protested against the ministry of education and its insistence on using the tablet-system in final exams in several governorates.

It is another episode in the big sage of the "Tablet system and high school" this school year !!

Since the start of the final exams of the First secondary stage “ 10th grade” , many students reported the tablet-system did not work due to connection problems and system failure.

The new tablet system in exams works as follows : The test sent from the ministry of educations to students’ tablets, and will be answered and marked electronically.

This photo from Youm 7 already shows the students using the tablet in the exams and honestly I do not
how this way can prevent cheating in Giza !! "Youm7" 

It is currently being generalized for “10th grade” students across the country. We are speaking about nearly 500,000 students.

As we are in the final exams phase 10th grade students in different governorates and in different reported its failure.
Group of angry students protested on Monday in Cairo, Giza, Gharbia , Ismailia , Suez, Alexandria, Luxor and New Valley governorates against the failure of that tablet system and current minister of education Tarek Shawky.

Before Iftar in Cairo , photos and videos went viral online on showing the protests by the angry teenagers and how the police forces dispersed some of these protests with no consideration that they are dealing with 13 and 14 years old teenagers who did not chant against the president but rather the minister of education calling for his dismissal.

In Cairo at the ministry of education HQ