The People's Parliament Museum

Tomorrow, the Egyptian Parliament will set a new chapter in its history. The lights will shine in the New Administrative Capital, and the doors of its new headquarters will open. However, the question remains: What is the fate of the Parliament building on Qasr El-Aini Street?

Will it become ruin? Will it be offered for sale? Or will it be transformed into a museum that preserves the parliamentary, democratic, and political history of Egypt? This parliament is not merely a beautiful building, as within its walls and in every brick used to build it, lies a unique democratic history and experience. It is the "State Diwan," its silent witness, and its democratic record.

Under that historic dome, more than just laws were written. Although the current headquarters is associated with the 1923 Constitution, its roots stretch deep into the 19th century. When Khedive Ismail established the "Consultative Assembly of Deputies" in 1866, Egypt was laying the cornerstone for popular representation at a time when most countries in the region had not yet known the meaning of a podium or a parliament.

On those seats, giants of history followed one another. Saad Zaghloul sat there as Speaker of the Council at a defining moment. He was followed by statesmen who left their intellectual and legal marks—from the rationality of Rifaat al-Mahgoub to the expertise of Fathi Sorour, in addition to the generations that witnessed the great winds of change.

The building witnessed constitutions written to give birth to hope, and others brought down by the will of the Egyptian people. Even its architectural details, inspired by Pharaonic style, carried a message: that the modern state is an extension of a civilization that began at the dawn of history.

In my view, the Parliament’s move to the Administrative Capital must symbolize the connection between the old and the new; a parliament working for the future, and a building telling the story of the past.

Vacating the seats does not mean stripping the place of its meaning. Buildings inhabited by history do not die; rather, they are reborn when they transform from a "seat of power" into a "platform for awareness." This edifice must remain a witness to the fact that Egypt, as it moves toward a parliament that speaks the language of the future, does not leave behind its history, which has pulsed with politics for over a century and a half.

This building is the history of democracy in Egypt, its leaders, and the parliamentarians who represented the people. A state capable of building a new capital is certainly capable of keeping its old heart alive.

The Parliament building is a democratic treasure. I hope to transform it into a museum that narrates the history of democracy in Egypt—a treasure of parliamentary history that we preserve for future generations. We await a decision and a vision for this place, which has always been, and remains, the treasure of Egyptian democracy and parliamentarianism throughout history. It must be preserved.