RAMALLAH, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas issued on Monday evening a presidential decree to stop the implementation and amendment of the controversial social security law.
"The presidential decree called for a dialogue between all concerned parties in order to reach a national consensus on the provisions of the law and the date of its entry into effect," the Palestinian state-run news agency WAFA quoted an official statement as saying.
A general strike dominated the West Bank on Jan. 15 in protest against the social security law after it came into effect without modifying. The protesters said that the law was "unfair."
The law is cutting 15.5 percent of the employee's monthly salary in a mandatory manner, at the request of the Social Security Institution in which 7.5 percent were to be cut from the worker's salary and 8 percent from the employer.
The amount of the cuts is deducted as a social security contribution with the average salary of the last three years, according to the law. One of the conditions for entitlement to the old-age pension is to reach the legal age of 60.
