Economic expert Idris Al-Sharif writes: A Legal and Constitutional Flaw Undermines Equality, and Must Be Corrected
Libya’s pension system suffers from a clear imbalance in insurance (social security) fairness. Although all citizens (insured persons) pay the same contribution rate to the Social Security Fund throughout their years of service, a flaw in the laws regulating the salaries of certain job categories (funded by the public treasury) leads to the following when calculating a retiree’s pension:
The ordinary employee…
Only receives 80% of their salary upon retirement (maximum), and only if they have completed a full 35 years of service. The pension is calculated based on the average salary of the last three years (36 months).
Additionally, the legal salary increases granted to their peers who remain in service are not fully applied to them.
Meanwhile, other job categories—whose salaries are regulated by special laws that violate the principle of equality—receive 100% of their last salary upon retirement, in addition to receiving all salary increases, even though they pay the same contribution rate as the ordinary employee, and their employing institutions pay the same percentage as well. (Their years of service may even be less.)
The result:
Two Libyan citizens pay the same contributions to the same fund for 35 years, and their employers (funded by the public treasury) pay the same rate.
Yet one of them receives a full pension that may exceed double the pension of the other!
(At whose expense?!)
This constitutes a clear violation of Article (6) of the Constitutional Declaration, which states:
“Libyans are equal before the law, and discrimination among them for any reason is prohibited…”
When two Libyan citizens (and their employers) pay the same social security contribution rate, yet one is granted double the pension without justification, this is discrimination that violates Article (6) of the Constitutional Declaration and undermines the principles of equality and social justice.
What must be corrected:
• Linking pensions to the actual value of contributions, not to profession or job title.
• Ending the duality between the “general system” and special systems.
• Applying legal salary increases to all retirees without exception.
• Ensuring that social security rights are disbursed fairly, reflecting what each insured person paid and aligning with their duration of service.
In conclusion:
The pension system is not a gift…
It is an acquired right that must be applied equally to everyone, as stated in Article 6 of the Libyan Constitutional Declaration.
