KUALA LUMPUR: Unity government spokesperson Fahmi Fadzil said the advice by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim that politicians choose only one pension scheme is reasonable and is something that the unity government 'wakil rakyat' is ready to join in.
"I feel all the 'wakil rakyat' (assemblymen and members of parliament) are ready to join in the effort, as what we want is oversight of central government spending because, owing to the federal government financial burden of subsidies and debt payment.
"If there is no adjustment in how we make these payments, it will have quite a negative impact on the country's finances in the next 10 to 20 years.
"Therefore, I see that for the 'wakil rakyat' to follow the prime minister's advice, it is not a problem, as it is part of a broader discussion about national spending, fiscal responsibility and the review of the civil servant allowance scheme."
Fahmi however said currently, all pensions, whether for 'wakil rakyats' or civil servants, are subject to existing laws that the government needs to amend.
"This matter overall is still under consideration because it relates to the announcement of a review of the allowance scheme for civil servants, issues related to the Employees Provident Funds (EPF),pensions, wakil rakyat pensions, ministers, and so on.
"We need to examine this Act and ensure that if amendments are necessary, we must bring them to parliament first where later we need to decide on its amendments.
"As we all know, amendments to the Act are usually not retroactive. So, we need to investigate whether it applies automatically or if there is an aspect that allows a member of parliament, current or former, to set one pension," he told reporters after handing out Chinese New Year donations to recipients at the Taman Seri Sentosa morning market, here.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zahid Hamidi had on Wednesday announced that new civil servant hires from Feb 1 would no longer qualify for pension.
They would instead contribute to retirement schemes, like the EPF and Social Security Organisation (Socso).
Anwar on Friday said the review of pension schemes also applied to political appointments.
He, however, said the matter would be finalised only after the study on the review was brought to the cabinet for a decision.