KUALA LUMPUR: The new pension scheme is still at the proposal stage and no decision has been made, says the Prime Minister.
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, responding to various concerns raised on the proposed pension scheme, assured that the issue will be debated in Parliament as it required constitutional amendments.
“The Constitution does not allow us to terminate anything previously 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 some 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 they wanted to forgo their pensions. That is up to them,” Anwar said when met at Zoo Negara here yesterday.
He was asked about the Council of Former Elected Representatives (Mubarak)’s statement on Friday that elected representatives should continue to receive remuneration after completing their tenures.
Several MPs had offered to give up their pensions so that lower ranking civil servants could keep theirs.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi announced the government’s intention to introduce a fresh 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 Social Security Organisation for new hires.
