Members of Parliament to discuss cutbacks in their own pensions
|
|
|
Speaker of Parliament Sauli Niinistö (Nat. Coalition Party) has invited the chairs of all political party groups in Parliament to discuss possible changes to the pension system for MPs.
“The natural thinking is that if terms for pensions are becoming tighter in the rest of society, then things should go in the same direction in every house”, Niinistö said to Helsingin Sanomat.
Niinistö believes that the nature of adjustment pensions intended to help MPs adapt to other work after leaving Parliament has changed.
“Is a lifelong adjustment pension system suitable for the present day?” Niinistö asks. However, he also says that he understands that being voted out of Parliament can interrupt the professional careers of many.
“I would assume that in private business it is difficult to go back to work in middle management, or to a profession requiring special skills”, he said.
Niinistö believes that the Parliamentary groups will focus primarily on age limits.
Last spring nearly all Parliamentary groups expressed eagerness to call for changes in their pension system at a time when Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre) had put forward ideas about raising the retirement age.
“I don’t know what kind of readiness there is for changes now, but I do remember what the group leaders said in the spring, as well as my own points of view”, Niinistö notes.
MP Arto Satonen (Nat. Coalition Party), the chairman of the Parliamentary employment and equality committee, says that Parliament should show a good example in the pension reforms.
“The adjustment pension for Members of Parliament differs significantly from normal unemployment security, which is based on the entitlement to income-linked unemployment compensation for 500 days. I see no reason why the end of work for a Member of Parliament would differ from the end of some other job”, he says.
The chairman of the largest party group in Parliament, Timo Kalli of the Centre Party, said on Thursday that he would be ready for changes, but that first he wants to acquaint himself with the final report of the pension negotiating group headed by Jukka Rantala.
Rantala’s group is considering different ways to raise the Finnish pension age, and is not specifically concerned with the pensions of Members of Parliament.
Helsingin Sanomat
|
| 6.11.2009 - TODAY |
 Members of Parliament to discuss cutbacks in their own pensions |
|
