New Iraqi retirement law full of loopholes
After popular protests against very generous retirement plans for Iraqi state officials, a new and better retirement law was passed, but it still has many loopholes.
On Aug. 31, 2013, Iraqi security forces used force to disperse demonstrations organized by activists and intellectuals in Baghdad and other cities to demand the cancellation of privileges and salaries for MPs and Iraqi officials.
The next day, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told the protesters that he supported their demands but that he broke up the demonstrations to prevent them from devolving into terrorism and civil disobedience.
More than five months later, it seems that the demonstrators’ message either didn’t reach its destination or reached it incomplete. On Feb. 3, parliament passed a new retirement law drafted by the government. The law maintains the privileges of deputies, special employee categories and senior staff while placing exceptions on administrative requirements.
It is interesting that Maliki assigned a special committee headed by his deputy Hussein al-Shahristani to respond to the demonstrators’ demands. The committee met on Sept. 1, 2013, and its president held a news conference to inform the public about the changes.
