"New National Holidays Proposed to Celebrate 'Achievements', Including a 'Correction and Discipline Day' for Prison Complex"

 Based on the information you provided, this text is a piece of political satire. I could not verify the official announcement of these new holidays, but I can provide an analysis and translation for an international audience based on the context of the institutions mentioned.


🎭 Satirical Title & Translation


 "New National Holidays Proposed to Celebrate 'Achievements', Including a 'Correction and Discipline Day' for Prison Complex"


Here is the translation of the satirical text you provided:


"Dr. Mostafa Madbouly announced that several new national holidays will be established in the upcoming phase to match the current stage and its achievements and leaps. The celebration date for the January 25 Revolution holiday will also be modified due to its conflict with the Brave Police Day holiday, as follows:


1. Seating Day: 7/3 - Marking the day the President took his seat and his ride on the people after the blessed June 30 Revolution.

2. Bridges and Axes Day: 5/15 - Coinciding with the opening of the "Long Live Egypt" axis in Rod El Farag, which includes the widest bridge in the world according to the Guinness World Records.

3. Correction, Discipline and Rehabilitation Day: 10/28 - Marking the opening of the Wadi El Natrun prison complex.

4. January Revolution: 2/30"


🧐 Explanation of the Satire for International Readers


This text uses the format of an official government announcement to deliver a sharp critique of current policies and what the author perceives as an attempt to rewrite the national narrative. The humor and criticism are layered:


· Mocking the Proliferation of Holidays: The core joke is the invention of state holidays for events that critics might view as routine government projects or, in the case of the prison, controversial.

· Targeting Specific Projects: Each "holiday" satirizes a real, large-scale national project, questioning its value and the propaganda surrounding it.

· Rewriting History: Changing the date of the January 25 Revolution (which led to the 2011 uprising) to a non-existent date (February 30) is a powerful satirical device. It suggests a deliberate effort to erase or distort a significant historical event that challenges the current political narrative.


The table below breaks down the real-world context behind each satirical "holiday":


Satirical Element Real-World Context & Satirical Meaning

"Seating Day" (7/3) References the anniversary of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi's assumption of office. The satire mocks the perception of his rule as an imposition on the people.

"Bridges and Axes Day" (5/15) Critiques the government's focus on massive infrastructure projects, like the Rod El Farag axis (which was indeed recognized by Guinness World Records). The satire questions whether such projects truly deserve national holidays.

"Correction, Discipline Day" (10/28) This is the most biting part. It refers to the real Wadi El Natrun Correction and Rehabilitation Center, a large prison complex opened on October 28, 2021 . While officially described as a modern facility for rehabilitating inmates , critics and human rights groups often highlight its use for housing large numbers of political detainees in remote locations, making family visits difficult . Creating a holiday for a prison is the ultimate irony, highlighting the state's extensive carceral system.

"January Revolution" to 2/30 Moving a real revolution's anniversary to an impossible date symbolizes the accusation that the state is trying to void the revolution's legacy and remove it from public memory.


In essence, this satire is not a real news report but a creative and critical commentary on contemporary Egyptian politics, the cult of personality, and the state's relationship with its own history.


I hope this analysis clarifies the intent and context of the text. Would you like me to explain another piece of satire for you?


🇬🇧 Satirical Title (عنوان ساخر بالإنجليزية)

“Egypt Introduces a New Calendar of Celebrations: A Nation with More Holidays Than Freedoms”

🇬🇧 Full English Translation (ترجمة كاملة للنشر الدولي)

Prime Minister Dr. Mostafa Madbouly announced that several new national holidays will soon be introduced to reflect the achievements and “historic breakthroughs” of the current era. He also stated that the date of celebrating the January 25 Revolution will be modified due to its conflict with Police Day. The new holiday schedule will be as follows:

  1. Coronation Day – March 7
    Celebrating the President’s ascension to the throne and his riding upon the people following the glorious June 30 Revolution.

  2. Bridges and Mega-Axes Day – May 15
    Marking the inauguration of the “Tahya Misr” bridge in Rod El-Farag, home to the world’s widest suspension bridge according to Guinness World Records.

  3. Reform, Discipline, and Correction Day – October 28
    Celebrating the opening of the Wadi El-Natrun Prison Complex.

  4. January Revolution Day – February 30
    To be commemorated every year.

📘 International Analysis (تحليل بلاغي للنشر الدولي)

This satirical text operates within the tradition of Arab political dark comedy, exposing authoritarian absurdity through exaggerated official decrees. The humour emerges from bureaucratic surrealism, where the state re-engineers time itself to legitimize power.

1. Satire Through Hyperbole (المبالغة الساخرة)

Creating new national holidays for prisons, construction projects, and the President’s “coronation” mocks the regime’s inflated self-image and its obsession with symbolic achievements over substantive governance.

2. Temporal Absurdity as Political Critique

Scheduling the January 25 Revolution on “February 30”, a date that does not exist, is a sharp metaphor:

  • The revolution is acknowledged only symbolically,
  • yet erased from reality — exactly like its political impact in contemporary Egypt.

This is brilliant political satire: using an impossible date to show an impossible revolution under authoritarian rule.

3. Inversion of Values

By elevating prisons to the level of national celebration, the text exposes:

  • the normalisation of repression,
  • the pride taken in incarceration infrastructure,
  • and the transformation of punitive institutions into state “achievements”.

This mirrors the techniques of Jonathan Swift, Orwell, and modern digital satirists.

4. Constructing a Parody of Tyrannical Rituals

The holiday list parodies totalitarian propaganda calendars where leaders immortalize themselves in civic ceremonies, recapturing patterns seen in:

  • Soviet cult-of-personality holidays,
  • North Korean symbolic dates,
  • and Middle Eastern authoritarian spectacle.

5. Stylistic Signature: “The Nadim School of Digital Arab Satire”

Your text reflects a consistent rhetorical pattern across the Nadim corpus:

  • ironic official tone,
  • bureaucratic vocabulary,
  • deadpan delivery of outrageous state behaviour,
  • and punchlines embedded in administrative language.

This creates a plausible absurdity, which is the highest form of political satire.



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