President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi issued a presidential decree appointing 28 parliamentarians to Egypt’s newly elected House of Representatives on Thursday.

The president also called on the parliament to convene for its first session on 10 January 2016.

Below is a brief overview of who the new parliamentarians are: 

1. Hussein Eissa

The 59-year-old is the head of Egypt’s second largest university, Ain Shams. Eissa received both his masters and PHD from San Diego University in 1986 and 1992, respectively. He served as the dean of the commerce faculty at Ain Shams University.

2. Sarei Seyam

Seyam is a board member of the International Association for Penal Law, based in Paris. Seyam was born in Egypt's Qalioubiya governorate in 1941. Soon after graduating from law school in 1961, he workedat the office the general prosecution. He also worked as the deputy head of the appeals court and served as the assistant to the minister of justice for legislative affairs for eleven years. 

3. Anissa Hassouna

Hassouna is the secretary-general of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs as well as the executive-director of the Magdi Yacoub foundation. After graduating with a bachelors degree in economics and political science from Cairo University, she served as a diplomatic attaché at the Egyptian foreign ministry.

Following her work for fourteen years at the Arab Economic Unity Council in the Arab League , Hassouna served as the general manager of the Egyptian International Economic Forum.

She is a lecturer at the Diplomatic Institute in the foreign affairs ministry as well as at the Banking Institute at the Central Bank of Egypt.

4. Rania Elwani

Known as the Golden Fisher, Elwani is a former Olympic and African record holder in swimming.  Rania Elwani has competed in three Olympic Games: 1992 in Barcelona, 1996 in Atlanta and 2000 in Sydney (semi-finalist in the 50 and 100 m freestyle swimming). She won three World Cup gold medals, two silver medals and one bronze medal in 1994-1995; she was six times silver medallist and four times bronze medallist at the African Championships in 1990; plus multiple gold, silver and bronze medallist at the African Games in 1991, 1995 and 1999.She was elected as a member of the IOC Athletes’ Commission in 2004 and was an IOC member from 2004 - 2012.

Elwani currently works as a visiting physician of obstetrics and gynaecology at Ain Shams University. She is the founder of many athletic associations that aim to prepare future Olympians.

5. Lamis Gaber

Lamis Gaber is a political writer.  She is also a practicing physician. She has been published in an array of Egypt-based publications. She is married to the well-known famous actor Yehia Al-Fakharani. Her writing work includes one film, Mabrook Wa Bolbol (1998) and a famous TV drama series recounting the life of former King Farouk (2007).

Her latest project was Ahlam Shahr Zad, a radio series produced in 2015. In 2011, Gaber hosted a TV programme called Dostoor Ya Seyadi.

6. Caroline Maher

Maher, 29, serves as the head of the human resources at Peugeot Egypt.

7. Marianne Amir Rafael

The 38-year-old Rafael works as a consultant at the communications and information technology ministry. She received her PhD from Cairo University.

8. Magda El-Sayed Bakry

The 41-year-old Bakry is an assistant professor at the Sadat Academy for Management Sciences.

9. Doaa Youssef Soliman

The 41-year-old Soliman works as a professor of general law at Cairo University.

10. Gihad Anis Amer

The 42-year-old Amer works as the director-general of foreign relations at the ministry of youths and sports.

11. Hala Mohamed Abu Ali

Abu Ali, 43, is professor at the Faculty of Economics and Political Science at Cairo University. She is also the Secretary General of the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood.

12. Sherin Ibrahim Farrag

The 44-year-old Farrag works as an assistant professor of biomedical engineering at MTI University for technology and information.

13. Rasha Ahmed Ismail

The 44-year-old Ismail heads the Spanish section at the school of arts at Cairo University.

14. Galila Osman Henawy

The 58-year-old Henawy is the head of the State Federation of Radio and Television.

15. Mohga Ghaleb Hashem

The 60-year-old Hashem is a professor of interpretation of the Qur'an at the Faculty of Islamic and Arabic Studies at Al-Azhar University for women.

She was the first elected dean to the Islamic studies section at Cairo University. She is married to Abdel-Hay Azab, the former head of Al-Azhar University.

16. Bassant Ahmed Fahmy

The 64-year-old Fahmy works as the chairman, manager and director of a finance, banking, and consulting company.

17. Osama El-Sayed El-Azhary

The 39-year-old Islamic preacher is on the board of advisers to President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi. El-Azhary received his PhD from the Faculty of Theology at Al-Azhar University in 2011. He also received a masters degree in Hadith from the Faculty of Theology and Islamic Da'wah, also at Al-Azhar, in 2005.

18. Khaled Hanafy Gomaa

The 43-year-old visually impaired state councillor and lawyer holds a masters in law. He is a disability rights activist who advocates for wider participation of citizens with special needs in politics.

19. Abdel-Fattah Serag El-Din

The 48-year-old said his priorities in the parliament will be to help farmers and land-owners.  

20. Karim Darwish

The 50-year-old works on foreign affairs at the National Council.

21. Ashraf Mohey El-Din El-Arabi

The 56-year-old El-Arabi was the head of the Tax Authority from 2007 to 2010.

A graduate of the Faculty of Commerce at Ain Shams University in 1980, El-Arabi has 35 years of experience in the field of taxation. He worked for 17 years in accounting and auditing firms in Egypt such as Deloitte Egypt and KMPG.El-

Arabi is an advisor to the tax reform authority. 

22. Gamal El-Sayed Shiha

The 58-year-old works as a professor of surgical oncology at Cairo University.

23. Amr Sedki

A former member of the Tourism Chamber, Sedki, 58, owns a tourism company in Egypt.

24.El-Sayed Abdel-Aal Abdel-Megid

Abdel-Megid is the leader of the leftist Tagammu party that was founded in 1977. The economics expert is a graduate of the Faculty of Commerce at Al-Azhar University.

As a young leftist activist, he was arrested several times aduring the era of President Anwar Sadat.

He ran for the People’s Assembly in 1995 for the downtown Cairo district but lost to an Al-Wafd party candidate.

25. El-Sayed Ahmed Felifel

The 65-year-old El-Sayed Felifel is a professor of African affairs in the African Studies Department at Cairo University. He is considered to be one of the preeminent experts of African political issues in Egypt.

26. Hassan El-Sayed Bassiouni

The 70-year-old judge heads the economic section of the legislative reform committee that was founded by presidential decree in 2014. The committee was assigned to draft and amend laws in the absence of a parliament.

27. Mohamed Youssef El-Qaeid

The 71-year-old author and novelist is among the most renowned writers in Egypt and the Arab world. Leaning towards Nasserism ideology, the famous writer has received several awards in Egypt and the Arab world for his novels, including the state award in 2008.

28. Bahaa El-Din Abo-Shoqqah

Bahaa Abo-Shoqqah is among Egypt’s most famous criminal lawyers, as well as a leading member in Al-Wafd political party.

The 77-year-old will also be the oldest member of the House of Representatives.

He was appointed by former president Hosni Mubarak to the Shura council in 2010. Bahaa was a member of the Constituent Assembly that drafted the 2012 constitution.