The Chairman of Social Security Corporation, Mr. Maa’moun Abu Shahla, has announced that the Social Security Law will come into force during the upcoming May-June. He stated that the Social Security Corporation has taken great steps to complete the establishment of the Social Security Corporation. He said that the Corporation’s Board of Directors was formed and it ensured the representation of all sectors and segments, and the senior staff of the organization were appointed.
Such news were announced at a hearing held by the AMAN Coalition, which was opened by the Chairman of the Coalition’s Board of Directors Mr. Abdul Qader Al-Husseini, who commended the continued functioning of the Palestinian government despite the unfortunate and unacceptable incident it faced yesterday. Al-Husseini asked Mr. Abu Shahla to form a committee for complaints of retirees, who have been put on early compulsory retirement, as the Coalition has received many requests from those people asking for support. Al-Husseini pointed out that the Social Security Law represents one of the most relevant laws to rights and balances among various economic interests and it is the most important in terms of its multiple impacts on the social, economic, political and developmental levels. Therefore, the adoption of the said legislation was faced by a wide popular protest in Palestine, which was the strongest at the popular reaction level against legislations issued after the Palestinian political split. This popular movement has contributed to the control shortcomings in some of the balances that the legislator did not consider in favor of the worker.
For his part, the Executive Director of the AMAN Coalition, Mr. Majdi Abu Zaid, affirmed that the hearing aims at answering the most frequently asked questions among the Palestinian community, especially the working class, and these questions are represented by: the enforcement of the law and the steps taken in this regard to be effectively enforced on the date set for enforcement (18/11/2018). For enhancing the citizen's right to accountability and access to public information, the Coalition for Integrity and Accountability - AMAN has held this hearing with the Social Security Corporation officials and competent people.
Abu Shahla added that the Social Security Corporation will have the necessary information systems within a month, and the contract will be ready to choose the custodian, in accordance with the provisions of the law and based on a tender submitted to the financial and banking institutions. After that, the Corporation will start functioning in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and there will be centers belonging to the Corporation to provide technical services to subscribers. Abu Shahla said that this deployment would be achieved gradually; adding that this Corporation will become the largest financial institution in Palestine within a few years, and it will ensure that its work is adequate and accurate and will meet the satisfaction of citizens.
Abu Shahla affirmed that the Social Security Corporation is keen to restore the rights of Palestinian workers who work inside the Green Line areas. In addition to the main objectives of the Social Security Corporation, one of its main objectives is to restore the rights of the Palestinian workers who worked inside the Green Line. According to the Paris Protocol, the Israeli party must transfer the due funds of the Palestinian workers to the Social Security Fund retroactively and immediately after its establishment and therefore, we are 22 years late to enforce this law. He added that the International Labor Organization (ILO) is currently conducting a fact-finding mission to know the value of financial dues for Palestinian workers. In addition, the Social Security Corporation has contracted with a group of lawyers directly and indirectly to follow-up on this file, especially that the Israeli side has recognized only 3 billion shekels as dues for the Palestinian workers inside the Green Line, and we are about to reach an agreement with the Israelis.
Abu Shahla also talked about investment and said that the most important building factors is the investment of the Corporation’s funds. Accordingly, an Investment Department is under formulation to carry out this task and the funds transferred to the Fund will be invested as efficiently as possible since the Corporation will seek the support of financial expertise to achieve this end. The Corporation will play a key role in fostering the Palestinian economy, stressing that this the Fund’s policy would be extremely careful and wise in dealing with the subscribers’ funds and this Corporation has started and will go ahead to keep pace with the full independence phase.
For her part, the legal adviser of the Social Security Corporation, Buthaina Othman, explained that all laws and regulations necessary for law enforcement will be ready during the next two months, pointing out that the Corporation has tendered for that and the Faculty of Law at Birzeit University was selected to provide technical service to develop draft legislations and regulations. Othman said that 23 legislations would be developed and she affirmed that the Social Security Corporation is keen to work on these legislations in partnership with all relevant parties.
His Excellency Mr. Abu Shahla pointed out that 1.2 million Palestinian workers will benefit from this law, which will provide benefits and that the resources of the Fund will ensure its continuity for at least 70 years.
For his part, the Director Social Security Corporation, Mr. Osama Harzallah, said that the Social Security Law would be applied to all Palestinians working in the sovereign Palestinian area, excluding those who are affiliated with the pension authority. He added that the Social Security Corporation would launch a campaign to raise citizens' awareness on the law and it will publish all information on its webpage and allow the citizens to submit their inquiries and will pay all possible effort to respond to all of them.
The meeting was attended by a large number of representatives of civil society organizations, private sector institutions, universities, Legislative Council and media institutions who raised many questions and technical issues, and they called for the continuation of such type of meetings on a regular basis with the Social Security Corporation.
