Sisi urges resolving family issues, discuses amending personal status law

CAIRO – 10 May 2022: Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El Sisi stressed on Tuesday the importance of resolving all family issues and problems inside the society.

In a phone call with Sada El Balad's Salet el Tahrir talk show, the president said that the family issues pose a serious threat to the cohesion and future of our society.

The divorce rate has sharply increased in Egypt over the past 20 years, the president said, adding that it is of great importance to draft a law that resolves family issues as soon as possible.

"The state's judges, government, parliament, Al Azhar are to be held accountable for what has been done in the personal status law in Egypt," the president said, adding that debating differences before marriage is much better than having a troubled marriage.

President Sisi invited the talk show's guest, judge Abdullah Al Baja, the former president of the Family Court, to the presidency's headquarters for debating the whole file of the personal status law.

The president asked Al Baja to provide to the presidency a report on the results he came up with, with other judges, whether in service or retired, after hearing many family issues in order to draft a marriage document or what he called "a prenuptial agreement" between couples before their marriage as a sign of good intention and to avoid future differences.

Meanwhile, the president said such kind of document or agreement should be in compliance with Sharia (religious laws).

Sisi also appreciated the vision presented by Al Baja regarding the personal status law amendment, terming it as the most "balanced and objective" that he has ever heard.

Sisi asserted that the Egyptian woman is feeling a kind of injustice with regard to issues related to marriage affairs, ruling out that he is biased to women. He explained that he just wants to strike a balance and to ensure that the rights of both men and women are well served and to guarantee that nothing would harm the affection and cordiality that should prevail within families.

President Sisi said he is concerned that the increasing divorce rate could lead to the reluctance of young people to marry and start a family