“I guarantee that once the SSPA is announced, no one will be left behind,” said defence minister Mohamad Hasan at a press conference after a graduation ceremony at the National Centre for Defence Studies in Putrajaya.

He said the government had never sidelined the long-standing issue of veterans’ pension, which is being examined by the public services department and is also included in the study on the new salary scheme, Berita Harian quoted him as saying.

“Be patient for a little while before the SSPA is announced by the middle of next year,” he said. However, anyone dissatisfied with the pension issue had the right to take the matter to court.

Mohamad said the new salary scheme will include a review of pensions for armed forces members and veterans. The matter would not be handled separately, he said.

The defence minister’s comments come in the wake of a suit brought by several veterans against the government for adjustments to their pensions. Yesterday, the High Court in Kuala Lumpur allowed an adjournment of the case to Feb 5.

Last week, a group of 2,332 veterans from all three wings of the armed forces won an arbitration award for their pensions to be revised based on current salary scales, with an order that they be paid arrears.

The award was made by the Malaysia Arbitral Tribunal Establishment in accordance with a Federal Court ruling that amendments to the Pensions Act in 2013 went against a constitutional provision that any new pension scheme cannot be less favourable than the previous one.

However, legal sources told FMT that the government is likely to dispute the award when it is brought to the High Court for endorsement, as the arbitration tribunal is not recognised by the government.