The Elections for Parliament Are Coming Soon

Parliamentry elections will be taking place here in March and April.  This article in the Cairo Post says:

So far 45,639 potential candidates have submitted applications to run for Egypt’s upcoming parliamentary elections, Head of High Elections Committee Judge Ayman Abbas told Youm7 Tuesday.

Campaign signs have been up in some locations for a while.  There is a large poster on the front of our building for this candidate.  I took these pictures just after the recent sandstorm.


Ashraf Farouk el Gabry is the name.  He happens to own the building.


The el Gabry family has a long history in the area near the pyramids.  The story told on this Tour Egypt webpage will give you some background.

The prince remembered his promise. Then and there he called for paper. When it was brought he asked, "What is your name?"

"I am of the Gabry family," was the proud reply.

The prince said, "I have signed the paper and it makes over all the land near the pyramids that you can ride around in a perfect circle. In the future it will belong to the Gabry family!"

So the Gabry family and their Bedouin relations divided the land and built their homes. Even today the main name in the village is Gabry, a close second is Kataab. They are cousins.

I try to learn a little more about the election process whenever I visit someone with an interest in government and politics - that is about 100% of the male population.  But you can imagine a foreigner trying to understand the Minnesota political process - "It begins with party caucuses that almost no one attends and then ..."

As I currently understand it, the March elections will narrow the field down to five candidates in each district for the runoffs.  But there are requirements that a specified number of Christians and women must emerge from the process.  Eventually, 567 members of parliament will be elected and they have the power to change the president if they wish.