By Nawara Fattahova

KUWAIT: A group of retired citizens have formed an unofficial group to fight for their demands, which they see as their right. 'Rights of retirees' is the slogan of the group, which includes retirees from various public institutions, oil companies, the army and others. The group was formed around six months ago, and currently has 12 members. "Over 5,000 people, mostly retirees, are following us on social media, and we speak on behalf of around 160,000 retired citizens," Mohammed Al-Aryan, a former employee at the ministry of planning who retired in 2020, told Kuwait Times.

The group has already met several MPs, who promised to highlight the demands of retirees in the National Assembly. "We are a peaceful group that fights for our rights quietly on social media and meets with officials rather than protesting at Irada Square. Due to the huge number of our followers, it's not right to let them gather for a protest, because if any of them says something wrong, we may lose all our demands," Aryan explained.

"The idea of our grouping started around five years back, when a former officer at the ministry of defense retired. He along with other officials didn't receive their indemnities. More retired citizens then started to communicate on social media to exchange ideas. The pandemic limited our activities, but around six months back, we gathered and activated the subject again," explained Aryan.

The group has nine main demands:

Distributing cash dividends annually depending on annual profits but not less than 25 percent, and this is the most important demand of the retirees. Annual increase of KD 50 instead of the present KD 30 every three years. Return to the fund of the Public Institution for Social Security (PIFSS), which should belong to retirees. Equity among all retirees in getting indemnities, as the law was issued recently and is only applicable to those who retired after the law.

Refund of replacement loan interest and cutting the interest rate to two percent that is paid to PIFSS. The monthly deduction for the loan should be between five and 15 percent depending on the retiree's preferences. This application should be open and not limited to only once, and should be between 5 and 20 times the complete salary depending on the retiree's preferences.

Establishing a fund for insolvent retirees, for which a fund will be established from PIFSS' funds, which will be supervised by elected members of retirees at PIFSS. The minimum salary should be KD 1,800 when an employee retires. A number of retirees should be appointed in committees of PIFSS depending on their experience.

The high cost of living led to their demands. "We all notice the price hikes of most products including food, cars and electronics, especially after the pandemic. We have prepared alternative solutions for some demands. We are not presenting dreams but realistic demands. In fact, even if one of our demands is realized and approved by the parliament, we will consider it a success," concluded Aryan.