The past hours have witnessed a new development regarding the guardianship law in Egypt, as President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi affirmed his intention to respond immediately, under his constitutional and legal powers, concerning the demands agreed upon by parties and youth movements regarding amending the guardianship law over money, especially since this would solve many problems faced by orphans and widows.
Al-Sisi’s speech came in response to the Head of the Technical Secretariat of the National Dialogue, Counselor Mahmoud Fawzy’s speech, during the main dialogue session at the National Youth Conference in Alexandria, where he raised 3 issues, including amending the guardianship law.
This project came as a reaction to the huge resonance caused by the series “Under the Guardianship” which aired last Ramadan and received around 61.6 million views.
The successful series centered around Hanan, a widow who, after her husband’s death, was left with 2 orphaned children, and she turned to their grandfather who suffocated her financially and morally, so she was forced to succumb and live in the house of the late husband’s family.
As soon as the series ended, the competent authorities rushed to address this hugely important issue.
On the one hand, Representative Amira Al-Adly and Representative Muhammad Ismail submitted separate requests to the Speaker of Parliament and the Minister of Justice to examine the guardianship law because of what they considered severe damage to the family.
On the other hand, the National Council for Women issued a statement calling for amendments to personal status laws, and granting the mother guardianship and the right to be in charge of her children’s financial and legal matters, especially urgent cases.
While Attorney Nihad Abu Al-Qumsan also called for amending the guardianship law over money, stressing that the amendment should include what qualifies him to deal with the father and mother as one entity concerned with managing children’s affairs without allowing the interference of any other parties.
The current guardianship law dates back to 1952; it stipulates that, following the death of the father, the financial and educational guardianship will automatically be transferred to the grandfather and then to the uncle.
This law faces criticism due to the limitation of a woman’s ability to dispose of her children’s money. Also, there’s the issue of the money losing its actual value with time if the child is waiting until he reaches the legal age to benefit from their inheritance, 21, which in turn requires the introduction of new legislation that allows the state to invest money safely to keep its value until it is granted to children.
