President Anastasiades refers AKEL’s proposals on the rights of workers and people with disabilities
Statement by Andreas Fakontis, Member of Parliament for AKEL – Left – New Forces
13th May 2021, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia
President Anastasiades has proceeded to refer a series of bills that were passed following draft bills or amendments to bills, which were submitted by AKEL, as well as other parliamentary parties.
More specifically, we refer to the amendment to the government bill for the provision of sickness benefit to people who have reached the age of 63 and choose not to retire early. The amendment of the majority of parliamentary parties aimed at removing the additional preconditions set by the executive power in order to become a beneficiary of sickness insured in the Social Insurance Fund, who reaches the age of 63 and chooses not to retire early.
The President also referred the draft law tabled by AKEL, the purpose of which is for persons over 63 years of age, who are temporarily unemployed and do not apply to receive an early statutory pension, should be able to become recipients of the unemployment benefit, provided they meet the insurance preconditions set out in the legislation in force for all contributors to the Fund.
The third referral of the President of the Republic concerns the draft bill tabled by AKEL with which our Party tried to correct a serious injustice against those insured in the Social Insurance Fund, who while judged as unable to work (by the Medical Council), nevertheless are not entitled to a disability pension due to the fact that they have not worked for the last two years and thus do not meet the insurance requirements set by the existing legislation.
Finally, the fourth referral concerns the draft bill supported by the majority of parliamentary parties, including AKEL, whose purpose is to amend the Law on the Minimal Guaranteed Income, so that a person with a disability who, according to the first assessment carried out by the Disability Assessment Committee, has been certified with permanent or irreversible disability without the possibility of recovery or improvement, should not to be called for reassessment of his/her disability at a later time for any reason. Furthermore, the above mentioned bill stipulates the obligation of the persons who make up the Disability Evaluation Committee to declare to the examined person before the beginning of the assessment their identity (name and surname) and specialty/profession.
The Anastasiades-DISY government didn’t accept any proposal and suggestion that was in favor of working people, in favor of the most vulnerable groups of the population, in favor of people with disabilities. By doing so it maintains the discrimination against workers who reach the age of 63 as their contributors to the Fund will be treated differently with age being the sole criterion. By perpetuating the injustice to the detriment of a section of insured people of the Social Insurance Fund who are no longer able to work due to a serious illness. By doing so the Anastasiades-DISY government again degrades the longstanding demands of the movement of people with disabilities seeking to ensure a life with dignity and without discriminations.
President Anastasiades and DISY are proving once again in the clearest way that they oppose any proposal in favor of workers and vulnerable groups of the population, but that they rush to promote at lightening speed whatever has to with the protection of big capital and banks. Let the people judge them!
