The House of Representatives on Friday approved a new law introducing pensions for widowers, effective for all men widowed since January 1, 2018.
The law was approved by 21 votes in favour, one against and 16 abstentions.
It followed a Supreme Court decision which had found a previous law applicable to all widowers unconstitutional.
During the debate, MPs said that 7000 widowers will not be eligible to a pension.
A provision in the new law which provided for a gradual increase in social insurance contributions was scrapped at the suggestion of Akel pending an actuarial review.
Under the new law, anyone widower whose wife died on or after January 1, 2018 can apply for a widower’s pension up till December 31, 2019 and the pension will be paid retroactively to the day of the death of the wife.
MPs disagreed with the starting date of the pension, saying the law may be challenged in court as discriminating unfairly between widowers.
