Whenever I hear about billions of riyals in surplus public budget every year, I start rejoicing and asking the authority concerned to pay me and other colleagues our dues related to end of service and retirement. The rights for end of service and retirement dues and pensions were stipulated in Article 23 of Law No. 24/2002 as follows:
“If an employee has completed twenty years of service then he/she is entitled to a retirement pension paid by his employer...” Therefore, before retirement I addressed Qatar University (QU), my employer, concerning these rights. I was told to go to the Minister of Finance, claiming that he is responsible for the issue, but the former Minister of Finance said this is clearly stipulated in Article 23 of law no 24/2002. So you have to go QU, your former employer and ask them about your rights. I went back to the University and the official there told me, “You are now retired and you should ask for your rights from the Pensions and Retirement Commission”.
Again, I went to that government organisation and I was told, “If the employee served more than twenty years, then he/she is entitled to receive pension plus a bonus of two months for each additional year above the twenty years, which must be paid by the employer”. In other words, it has been clear that my pension and end of service rights and same rights of my fellow citizens were lost somewhere among these government bodies.
In another attempt, I sent a letter to the Board of Trustees of QU on 03/06/2014 asking them to release my retirement funds. Their answer came through the president of the university saying the payment of these dues is linked to issuance of the executive regulations for the Law of retirement. But by referring to the law of the retirement and pensions, we find that Article 54 stipulates that “based on suggestion of the retirement authority, the cabinet issue the executive regulation of the law.” Here we come to the question, what is to be followed: The question is what can be done in this regard; whether to adhere to law issued by the ruler of the state or to keep waiting for executive regulation which still not issued. Thanks to Allah, we have been blessed with a lot of things that many people in the world lack or are deprived of. We are in absolute luxury due to God’s grace and the measures that our government have taken throughout history.
We all know as individuals that we are obliged to implement the laws that are for our benefit and for the benefit of society. Therefore, since we are required to implement the laws, not regulations, government officials are to apply those laws.
The excuse for not issuing the Executive Regulations, from my point of view, is simply not acceptable and unrealistic, because the regulations are only a tool for the interpretation of the law, and the essential key is the law because it is issued by H H the Emir. Therefore, it must be implemented, whether regulations are issued or not. The law is an order from the ruler and must be implemented; failure of the pension official to implement or ignore the law is disobedience of the ruler and might render someone an apostate as mentioned by God Almighty in the Holy Quran, which is translated as:
“O ye who believe! obey Allah, and obey the Messenger, and those charged with authority among you”. (An-Nisaa, 4:59)
This is clearly telling us to obey the ruler. Each minister swore in the name of Allah in front of
H H the Emir, “to be loyal to the country and the Emir, to respect Islamic law, the Constitution and the civil law, and to fully serve people’s interests.”
However, some of the ministers who are entrusted to serve the country and the people give a hard time to citizens when it comes to fulfilling their rights that are guaranteed by law.
Therefore, some make excuses as in the case of the University, while others commit fraud with retirement funds by providing it to someone unknown and no one knows where the money goes. (like what the University did).
There was a case back in 2011 where Qatari funds were stolen by forging them as an initial subscription to pension plans (please read AlSharq of 9/10/2011).
Some employers steal from employees’ salaries on a monthly basis knowingly or unknowingly to go back to the government’s treasury, while someone submits a proposal to extend the service period to thirty years instead of twenty, which is the worst thing to do.
The strange thing is that all this happens in the name of full service to the interests of the people. Dear official, if this is how “you fully serve the interests of the people” then please stay away from that since Allah is sufficient for us. And I kindly ask you to implement the Qatari Constitution and laws.
I have tried repeatedly to find excuses for our government for doing so, but I did not find anything like it worldwide, except from bankrupt governments who are scratching for pennies.
I do not think personally that the State of Qatar is bankrupt to such an extent, since it is helping other nations with billions of dollars, it has investments all over the world, and its lavish distribution of money left and right is unsurpassed.
Every year, foreign media before the local one, says that the Qatari budget has excess, which obviously doesn’t make our government bankrupt; therefore, it does not have any good reason to freeze citizens’ funds or rob them of their years of service.
I conclude that it is a defect that those in charge prevent civilians from getting their retirement money while they do so, with great pleasure, for military staff. The problem is that those who are responsible will always blame the government for its shortcomings. There is a statement attributed to Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, “If poverty was a man, I would have killed him.” And I say, “If the executive regulation is a man, I would have killed him.”
