When it comes to adding taxes in Bahrain, it is only applied to the hungry and unfortunate, who are in dire need of a single dinar and struggling to live day by day, while members of the royal family spare no expense.

Deputy Chairman of Al-Hekma Retirees Society Saeed Al-Sammak said that there are about 55 thousand retirees in Bahrain before applying the optional retirement program.

Board of directors of Social Insurance Authority held its first meeting on Sunday (September 16, 2018) since its appointment by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa in mid-August.

Economic advisor in the House of Representatives Abdullah Al-Sadiq said that treatment of the actuarial deficit of the pension funds requires an increase in the number of participants for retirees.

Al-Ayam newspaper, which has close ties with the Royal Court, said that the Parliament will be invited to convene at the end of the current month to vote on a bill suggested by the parliamentary committee regarding changing the retirement laws.

A local daily said that discussions are still ongoing between the House of Representatives and the Government to discuss bills of retirement law. It reported a source that stressed that the focus is on not giving absolute power to the Social Insurance Authority.

Rashid Al-Meer, Chairman of Board of Directors of Osoul Investment Company (the investment arm of public authority for social insurance) said that the company's assets last year amounted to 3 billion and 100 million dinars.

A local newspaper reported that the Government referred to the House of Representatives new amendments to the pension law that included opinions made previously to the House of Representatives.

Kuwaiti official sources said that Kuwait is to buy shares owned by Public Authority for Social Insurance (pension fund) in Bahraini companies, within its plan to help rescue Bahrain financially.

King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa called to re-structure the board of directors of the Social Insurance Organisation (SIO) which is responsible for managing the retirement funds, after the controversy caused regarding the new retirement law.

Bahraini Twitter users launched a campaign against the government's attempt to pass amendments to the retirement law, enabling the board of directors of the Social Insurance Authority to change the privileges of retirees in Bahrain.

King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa directed the government to reconsider the controversial retirement law, after a dispute between the House of Representatives and Shua Council and dissatisfaction among large segment of citizens.

The Shura Council announced in its session on Sunday that it received a letter from speaker of House of Representatives, Ahmed Al-Mulla, about the council’s conclusions regarding the new bill that stipulates amending some provisions of the public authority for social insurance and the other bill that stipulates amending some provisions of law on “military retirement”.

Press information stated that service committee in the Shura council will hold a meeting on Sunday to discuss the retirement law, finish it and refer its report to the office's commission on the same day, as an introduction to discuss the law in an exceptional session on Wednesday, June 13.

The House of Representatives rejected in its session on Tuesday (June 5, 2018) the new retirement bill which was urgently referred by the Government.

A local newspaper reported Parliamentary sources as saying that the House of Representatives received yesterday a new bill on retirement.

Member of the Bahraini House of Representatives said that the government is working on a new draft law for retirement, which includes the abolition of early retirement and raising the retirement age to 65 years.

General Authority for Social Insurance in Bahrain revealed that the total retirement cost of the members of the Shura and House of Representatives during the past eight years (2009-2016) amounted to BD 9 million.

The General Secretary of GFBTU Hasan Al Halwachi, commenting on the government’s intention to increase the retirement age in the law, said that there was ambiguity and uncertainty in these statements rather than transparency required for such an important matter.

Sources said that the government assigned Legislation and Legal Opinion Commission to work on drafting a law that raises retirement age of employees in the public and private sectors, Al-Ayam local reported.