Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman has said that it is unfair for politicians to get lifetime pensions and instead advocated contributions to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF).
This is especially true considering that public officials have to work hard for decades before receiving a small amount of pension, he said in response to Kini News Lab’s two-part series examining pensions and allowances to MPs.
“I’ve actually gone one step forward. Even before this parliamentary session, I not only raised this issue in Parliament but I also put forward a private member’s bill to remove pensions from politicians, including myself, and to transition to an EPF scheme,” he told Malaysiakini.
A private member’s bill is a proposed law introduced by a private Parliament member who is not part of the government.
Furthermore, Syed Saddiq said it was unfair and immoral for politicians to receive lifetime pensions in their first election while the government was withdrawing from civil servants’ pension schemes.
Despite his position in the opposition, Syed Saddiq said he would be the first to support any government legislative proposal on the issue if his private member’s bill is rejected.
“And that also means supporting the removal of my own pension,” he added.
The Kini News Lab report estimates Syed Saddiq’s pension as former Minister of Youth and Sports and Muar MP since 2018 at RM18,582.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was reported to have said on June 4 that only 29 per cent of Malaysians have a pension or pension-like income during their retirement.
Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi announced in January that Putrajaya was planning a new civil servant recruitment policy that would introduce permanent, non-pensionable jobs.
At the same time, Anwar demanded that politicians who hold multiple portfolios or government positions be “morally responsible” and opt for a single pension system.
He said current civil servants and politicians who are entitled to a pension will not be affected by the proposed new civil service remuneration system.
Earlier, Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Armizan Mohd Ali told Parliament that elected officials could receive multiple pensions based on their service under different laws, regulations or decrees.
Anwar, however, said the Cabinet would finalise the issue only after considering comments from various parties and studies on certain aspects of the Federal Constitution.
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