Swiss government pensions come under pressure in parliament
Centre of power: the federal government's meeting room in Bern.
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Listening: Swiss government pensions come under pressure in parliament
On Friday, a committee in the House of Representatives voted narrowly in favour of scrapping the generous pensions enjoyed by ex-government ministers and federal judges.
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Fin des privilèges pour les magistrats retraités
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The general public does not understand why ministers, the Federal Chancellor and federal judges are so privileged compared to other insured persons, said the text authored by Rémy Wyssmann from the right-wing Swiss People’s Party.
These privileges amount to receiving a pension of half of the monthly salary in office.
Such people should be treated the same as everyone else when it comes to occupational benefits, agreed the committee majority in a press release issued on Friday. A minority, on the other hand, believed that current regulations should be kept, as they are the only way to guarantee the independence of high officeholders. The decision was taken by 12 votes to 11, with 1 abstention. The issue will now be discussed by a committee in the Senate.
However, the committee voted to keep cost-of-living adjustments for government ministers. By 14 votes to 9, it thus rejected an initiative by the David Zuberbühler (People’s Party).
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The committee also rejected two initiatives by Andreas Glarner (People’s Party) concerning parliamentary allowances. The first aimed to halve the level of allowances, while the second proposed to abolish parliamentary remuneration for work carried out in so-called special sessions.
Glarner and a minority in the committee feared that the Swiss parliament, traditionally a part-time militia model, is becoming more and more like a professional parliament.
Adapted from French by DeepL/dos
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