KUALA LUMPUR: The new pension scheme that was recently announced is only a proposal and no decision has been made on the matter, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
In response to various concerns voiced regarding the new pension scheme, the Prime Minister said that the proposal would be brought to Parliament as it required amendments to the Constitution.
Anwar said this in response to a statement by the Council of Former Elected Representatives (Mubarak) on Friday (Jan 26) that elected representatives should continue to receive remuneration after completing their term of service.
This comes after several Members of Parliament suggested their pension be taken away so that lower ranking civil servants could get theirs.
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"Actually, many people didn’t read properly. The Constitution does not allow us to change anything that has previously been agreed upon.
"What we want to do is a new rule that can come into force for new positions, including political positions. That’s the proposal that we will table in Parliament which requires amendments to a few laws.
"We cannot simply terminate something because we are tied to the law and the constitution.
"From a moral perspective, some ministers and MBs said that they want to forego their pensions. That is up to them," Anwar told reporters when met at the Zoo Negara here on Saturday (Jan 27).
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Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi previously announced the government’s intention to introduce a new civil service hiring policy incorporating a new pension scheme.
With this proposal, traditional pensions would be phased out in favour of increased contributions to retirement schemes like the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and the Social Security Organisation for new hires.
On Friday, the Prime Minister said any decision made following the review of the public service remuneration scheme would also apply to politicians.
Also on Friday, several MPs said they were willing to let go of their pensions but told the government to not cut the pensions of civil servants, especially the lower ranking officers.
