Riot in Parliament over amendments to retirement system in Bahrain

Manama : The issue of spreading rumours on the scrapping of pensions and extending retirement age for citizens created commotion among the MPs during their weekly session yesterday.

Majority of the MPs passed a request submitted by a couple of them, demanding clarifications from the government on its policies and plans to amend the existing retirement system.

In this regard, a few MPs expressed their concerns about rumours circulating on local press and social media regarding the raising of retirement age limit and the cancellation of pensions.

Speaking on the occasion, MP Ahmed Qarata said, “People are talking about increasing retirement age from 60 years to 65 years. This concerns Bahrainis and we hope that the government could clarify to us its policies in regards to the pensions fund.”

The Council’s Public Utilities and Environment Committee Head MP Adel Assoomy said, “People are requesting early retirement as a result of the spreading rumours.”

He criticised what has been spreading on local social media networks, reiterating his rejection to such “false news,” which he said is “threatening people’s security.”

“The Council of Representatives exists to convey the grievances of the people of Bahrain and solve their problems. We legislate laws that serve them and not the opposite. What has been circulating on social media lately, claiming that the government has the intention to issue a legislation that scraps pensions is a ‘pure rumour’. The government didn’t take any step or issue an official statement in this regard,” Al Assoomy added.

The parliamentarians will have an open discussion about the matter in the presence of government officials next Tuesday. 

Meanwhile, social media networks are inundated with rejecting posts to the unconfirmed news.