The Board of Directors of the National Social Security Fund held its first session after issuing the decrees appointing its members and publishing them in the Official Gazette, in a step that ends long years of waiting and opens the door to reactivating the work of the Board of Directors and following up on the accumulated files in one of the most prominent social institutions in Lebanon.
The session was chaired by the oldest member, Asaad Mirza, in the presence of all ten members of the Council, along with the Director General of the National Social Security Fund and the Chairman of the Technical Committee for Security.
Minister of Labor Mohamed Haider participated at the beginning of the session, congratulating the members of the Council on the completion of the appointment of a new Board of Directors, and praising the spirit of responsibility and cooperation shown by the members.
Haider expressed his hope that the election process would be conducted “in a democratic and transparent spirit, thus consecrating this achievement that has been long awaited for many years.”
The Minister of Labor left the session after his speech to make way for the council members to hold the elections independently, before the results resulted in the election of the President of the General Labor Union, Bechara Al-Asmar, as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Social Security Fund, Bassam Alaik as Vice-Chairman, and Maroun Al-Seikali as Secretary.
Following the announcement of the results, Haider returned and joined the session, congratulating Al-Asmar, Aleeq and Al-Seikaly, along with the council members, and wishing them success in their new responsibilities.
The Minister of Labor stressed that “work awaits everyone,” stressing that the files of the National Social Security Fund were and will remain his top priorities.
In a remarkable position that followed the election of Al-Asmar, Haider stressed the importance of adhering to the principle of separation of powers, wishing him to resign from his position as president of the General Labor Union and call for new elections for the union, in a manner consistent, according to the minister’s position, with the requirements of responsibility and the new position he now occupies on the Board of Directors of Security.
For his part, Al-Asmar thanked the Minister of Labor for the role he played in completing the process of appointing a new board of directors for the fund, considering that the completion of this merit after more than 20 years constitutes an essential step to reactivate the work of the institution and enhance its role.
He stressed that the new council will work “first and foremost for the benefit of the National Social Security Fund, the insured, and citizens,” pointing out that the Lebanese people rely greatly on the institution in light of the economic and social conditions that the country is going through.
Al-Asmar stressed that the next stage requires taking responsibility and working hard to address the accumulated files within the Fund.
The election of the Board’s Bureau gains special importance after the Fund remained for many years without a new Board of Directors with full powers, while financial, administrative and social challenges accumulated during this period that directly affected the insured, employers and health institutions.
The National Social Security Fund is one of the basic pillars of the social protection network in Lebanon, as health benefits, family compensation, and end-of-service files are linked to it, which makes any defect in its work or financing capacity reflect on a wide segment of the Lebanese.
The pressures on the Fund increased significantly during the economic and financial crisis, after the actual value of contributions declined and the cost of hospitalization, medicine, and medical services rose, which imposed a series of steps to re-raise tariffs and gradually improve coverage.
The formation of the new Board of Directors comes at a stage that requires dealing with files that go beyond the daily management of the Fund, to include its financial sustainability, developing its offerings, and improving the level of coverage for those guaranteed, as well as keeping pace with the proposed social and economic reforms.
With the election of Al-Asmar as Chairman, Alaik as Vice-Chairman, and Al-Seikaly as Secretary, the Fund has completed a fundamental step in restructuring its Board of Directors, while the focus now shifts to how to translate this change at the level of decisions, submissions, and services that the custodians are waiting for.
