RIYADH – The Shoura Council on Monday witnessed heated debate over the retirement age of government employees when some members favored raising it to 62 while others opposed it. The Council session, chaired by its President Sheikh Abdullah Al-Asheikh, started deliberations on the draft of the amended Civil Service Retirement Law, the Saudi Press Agency reported. Yahya Al-Samaan, assistant president of the Council, said that there are three major proposals in the amended draft law, presented by Hossam Al-Anqari, chairman of the finance committee. The first proposal calls for amending article 15 of the law to raise the retirement age of civil servants to 62. It was proposed by Al-Anqari. The second proposal calls for modernizing the Retirement Law, passed 40 years ago, after taking into account the social and economic changes taking place in society and in a way guaranteeing the fundamentals of social integration. The proposal was made by women members – Princess Mouda Bint Khaled, Dr. Ilham Hasanain, Dr. Thoraya Obaid, Dr. Firdous Al-Saleh, Dr. Lubna Al-Ansari, Dr. Mastoura Al-Shamri, Huda Al-Holaisi, and Dr. Wafa Tayyiba. The third proposal, made by Ata Al-Subaiti and Fadwa Abu Mureefa, calls for consolidating the principle of protecting rights and reviewing the amount of pension in accordance with the changes in the cost of living and household needs of the pensioners. Taking part in the deliberations, one member opposed raising the retirement age, saying that it will adversely affect the job prospects of the growing number of university graduates and scholarship students, Al-Samaan said. Another member said that raising the retirement age is contrary to the government directives to combat unemployment. One member underlined the need for injecting young blood in the government sector by creating more job opportunities for the qualified young Saudi men and women without increasing retirement age. Countering these arguments, one member said that creating jobs is the responsibility of the private sector and not that of the government sector while another member pointed out that calculating 62 Hijri years of age is equal to 60 years as per the Gregorian calendar. A number of other members expressed their mixed opinions on the issue. One woman member called for raising retirement age for some specialized professions like that of physicians and university academics. Another member suggested that minimum pension amount should not be less than SR5,000. The Council will continue deliberations on the amended law in the coming session before a voting on it, Al-Samaan added.
