Pension: Hadi's claim inaccurate, misleading - Nik Nazmi

KUALA LUMPUR - The statement by Pas president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang regarding pensions for civil servants is misleading, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) vice-president Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said.

Nin Nazmi, who is also the Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister, said Hadi's claim that the federal government would reduce or stop the pension is flawed because the proposal to review the remuneration of civil servants does not affect existing employees.

"The fact is, the government proposes to review the remuneration of all existing civil servants and explore options for hiring new civil servants with a new retirement scheme, such as the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), replacing the existing pension scheme.

"As a person with religious knowledge, Hadi should not make ignorant statements that do not accurately represent the federal government's proposal,” he said in a statement here today.

On Jan 24, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi affirmed that the status of existing civil servant pensions would continue as 'permanent and pensionable,' with only new employees being involved in the new policy, with details to be announced later by the Public Service Department (PSD) director-general.

Nik Nazmi claimed that Hadi also tried to portray that EPF contributions are not Islamic, whereas EPF is also a retirement fund with the option of Syariah-compliant savings.

"The syariah-compliant savings are managed and invested according to Syariah principles. To ensure Syariah compliance, a Syariah governance framework is established to govern the compliance aspects for contributors’ savings,” he said.

Nik Nazmi, who is also PKR Kelantan and Terengganu chief, said the proposal to replace the pension system with EPF contributions had also been announced by Kelantan government agency, Yayasan Islam Kelantan (YIK) in 2022.

"So why is it that when YIK announced this proposal, there was no objection from Pas if it is claimed that EPF is not Islamic or does not follow the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad SAW?” he asked.

Nik Nazmi also said that Pas should have the moral responsibility to ensure the welfare of teachers in PASTI, kindergartens owned by the party established over 30 years ago, taking into account claims that its teachers do not have a retirement plan, including EPF, besides being paid below the minimum wage of RM1,500. - BERNAMA