President Mohamed Morsy appointed new governors for 17 provinces Sunday, days before mass protests planned by opposition and disgruntled Islamist forces on 30 June.
Seven of the new governors are members of the Muslim Brotherhood, sparking fierce criticism that the Islamist group is attempting to tighten its grip on power.
Controversy has also centred on a member of Jama'a al-Islamiya's Construction and Development Party, implicated in a terror attack which killed 58 tourists and 4 Egyptians in 1997, who has been appointed governor of Luxor.
Brotherhood governors will now administer Beheira, Beni Suef, Daqahlia, Fayoum, Gharbiya, Monufiya and Qalyubiya. Three incumbent officials are already members of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, now leading Assiut, Kafr al-Sheikh and Minya.
Army generals have also taken control in other governorates, assuming power in Aswan, Marsa Matrouh, New Valley, Port Said and the Red Sea district.
Alexandria, Egypt’s second city, Ismailia and Qena have meanwhile been granted independent governors.
Mass protests on 30 June calling for early presidential elections will protest against President Morsy's rule, one year after he took power in democratic elections.
List of new governors:
Alexandria: Maher Baybars, a former Beni Suef governor and a former member of a fact-finding committee that investigated events in Tahrir Square during the January 2011 uprising
Aswan: Ismail Hassan Attiyatallah, a former director of the Air Defense Academy
Beheira: Osama Mohamed Ibrahim Suleiman, secretary general of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), a businessman in contracting and real estate
Beni Suef: Adel Abdel Moneim Hassan, a FJP leader, dean of the Faculty of Science at Beni Suef University
Damietta: Tareq Fathalla Khedr, a member of Ghad al-Thawra Party
Daqahlia: Sobhy Attiya, FJP spokesperson in Daqahlia and professor of archaeology at Mansoura University
Fayoum: Gaber Abdel Salam Attia Ibrahim, FJP leadership and electronics engineer
Gharbiya: Ahmed Mohamed Ahmed al-Beyaly, in charge of a Brotherhood administrative office in Damietta, head of the Pharmacists Syndicate tax committee
Ismailia: Hassan Refaie Hussein al-Hawy, former member of the board of directors of the Canal Company for Electricity Distribution
Luxor: Adel Assad Mohamed al-Khayyat, leader from the Construction and Development Party (Jama'a al-Islamiya’s political arm) and an official at the housing authority in Upper Egypt
Matrouh: Badr Tantawy al-Ghandour, a former director of the armed forces’ cyberwar services
Monufiya: Ahmed Sharawy Abdallah Mohamed, Brotherhood leadership, head of the Female Brotherhood members department
New Valley: Mahmoud Khalifa, an army general
Port Said: Samah Qandil, an army general
Qalyubia: Hossam Abou Bakr, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood Guidance Bureau, holds a PhD in engineering from Mansoura University
Qena: Salah Abdel Meguid, a university professor with a Phd in environmental science
Red Sea: Tareq Mahdy, a former member at the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) and the Egyptian Radio and TV Union. Also a former governor of New Valley
