A law allowing Kuwaiti employees to seek early retirement has cleared a major hurdle, Kuwait Times reported.
The National Assembly which convened for its weekly session endorsed the legislation with a majority of the MPs’ votes.
However, cabinet ministers who were in attendance, rejected the legislation, casting doubts on its implementation.
The law allows female and male Kuwaiti government employees to retire with full pension benefits after serving for 25 years and 30 years, respectively, regardless of age.
The legislation, which was passed by 43 votes in favour and 16 against, also allows employees to seek retirement even earlier but they will lose some of the pension benefits, especially pension pay.
There was unanimous approval of these two points but a dispute erupted between the government and the assembly over an article that prevents the government from dismissing those employees prematurely.
To become effective, the law must be approved by the Cabinet and signed by the Amir. If the government rejects the law, the Amir will not sign it and it will be rejected and returned to the National Assembly.
The National Assembly can overrule the government’s rejection by passing the law with a two-thirds majority in this term or a simple majority in the next term.
If this happens, it becomes obligatory for the government to implement it. The law was passed with little discussion because it had already been passed in the first reading several weeks ago.
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