Politicial parties do battle over raising the age of retirement

The Christian Democrat party president, Adalbert Durrer, has voiced his opposition to raising the age of retirement at the party's meeting at Delémont.

Durrer strongly criticised the proposal put forward by the federal counsellor, Franz Steinegger, to raise the age from from 65 to 66 as “socially intolerable.”

“The Christian Democrats will counter all attempts to raise the age of retirement in the eleventh revision of AVS (the state pension scheme),” Durrer told party delegates at the assembly meeting in French-speaking Switzerland.

Durrer outlined his position, saying Steinegger’s proposal was unrealistic. “This idea only takes into account the rising standards of living,” Durrer said. He arged that professional life was increasingly more demanding and stressful.

Durrer outlined the party position on the issue, saying that 65 was the desired age of retirement, with the possibility of early retirement at 62. This was the most they would accept.

The Christian Democratic party, the Radical Party and the People’s Party, three of the four government parties, are all meeting in French-speaking Switzerland to lay out their policies following the summer break.

The three parties are due to spell out their positions on two issues – a proposed tax on non-renewable energy and a move to limit the number of foreigners to 18 per cent. Both questions will be decided in a referendum on September 24.

swissinfo with agencies