Shoura studies proposal to raise retirement age

The Shoura Council, in its weekly meeting on Monday chaired by council chairman Abdullah Al-Asheikh, discussed proposed amendments to the Civil Retirement Law issued by Royal Decree Number M/41 dated 29/7/1393.
The proposed amendments were presented by a number of members of the council in the light of Article 23 of the rules of the council.
Yahya bin Abdullah Al-Samaan, assistant chairman of the Shoura Council, in his statement after the meeting, said that the council heard a report of the finance committee about the proposal read out by Husam Al-Anqari, the chairman of the committee. This included three proposed amendments to the Civil Retirement Law as was presented by a number of members.
The committee said that the first proposal, presented by council member Hussam Al-Anqari, is for an amendment to Article 15 of the present law, raising the retirement age to 62 years.
The second proposal was made by Princess Maudha bint Khalid bin Abdulaziz, Ilham Hasnain, Thuraya Obaid, Firdaus Al-Saleh, Lubna Al-Ansari, Masturah Al-Shammari, Huda Al-Halisi and Wafa Tayba, members of the council. They proposed a number of amendments in the 40-year-old law in view of social and economic changes in the country.
Some members also proposed that there should be a mechanism to protect rights and relook into economic conditions to reflect the cost of living and needs of families of retired people as well as improvement of economic conditions of citizens after retirement. This requires amendments to nine articles of the current law and the deletion of one article.
Among the recommendations made by the committee was to develop a mechanism for electronic payment for medicines in various parts of the Kingdom. It also talked about various facilities, as well as work areas.
One of the members of the Shoura Council demanded that the job of pharmacists be natinalized in the Kingdom’s cities.