Rashwan was a dissident during the Mubarak era, and was a founding member of Kefaya movement which was the seed of the 2011 revolution. Rashwan is also a member of the board of trustees of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights since the 1980s. In 2010 he nominated himself in the parliamentary elections against the candidate of the ruling National Democratic Party contesting the seat of Armant, however he lost to the NDP candidate due to widespread rigging of the elections by Mubarak's government.