KUALA LUMPUR, July 9 — The Malaysian Council of Former Elected Representatives (Mubarak) has urged the Public Service Department (JPA) to shed light on the issue of pension increase for its 
700 members across the country following the increase in emolument and allowances for elected representatives recently.
Its Selangor president Tan Sri Abu Hassan Omar said this was important to overcome confusion raised when there were some who claimed that they would not get the increase in pension as enjoyed by the current elected representatives.
"In the new act passed in parliament recently the allowance for newly elected representatives will be increased from RM6,900 to RM16,000. However, we understand for former representatives, the rate of increase is only two per cent annually.
"This is based on a letter from JPA Post Service Division which did not mention the increase for former representatives," he told a press conference here today.
He said the council would write a letter to JPA to clarify if they were entitled to half the rate enjoyed by elected representatives who are serving or only two per cent increase annually.
On April 10, the Dewan Rakyat approved the Members of Parliament (Remuneration) (Amendment) Bill 2014.
The bill provides for the monthly salary of a Member of Parliament to be raised to RM16,000 from RM11,500, members of the Dewan Negara from RM7,000 to RM11,000, Dewan Rakyat Deputy Speaker and Dewan Negara Deputy president from RM16,000 to RM22,000 and Dewan Rakyat Speaker and Dewan Negara president from RM20,000 to RM31,000.
Previously, Members of Parliament received a basic pay of RM6,508.59 a month besides a monthly allowance of RM5,000 for entertainment, driver's pay, travel and handphone bill.
They were also paid a meeting allowance of RM200 a day when attending Parliamentary sittings and a daily allowance of RM150 to attend meetings with government agencies.
It was reported earlier that former lawmakers expected a rise in pension allowance of between RM3,500 and RM5,500 per month compared to the present RM1,200 a month.
Abu Hassan said the council hoped that JPA would streamline the pension allowances at the state level.
"To date, there are differences in the pension rate based on the enactment approved by each state, some states have implemented it and some have not. We want to ensure that all members in all states enjoy the same benefit," he said.
Also present were Mubarak secretary-general Datuk Paduka Abdul Rahman Ibrahim and other committee members.— Bernama
