Opposition MPs slammed the proposed pension system reform floated by the government last week, in Parliament on Monday.
While the leader of the populist Most party, Bozo Petrov, said that the government is allowing Croatians “to be robbed”, and the Social Democrat MP Pedja Grbin described it as “blackmail of Croatian citizens,” MP of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), Ivan Suker, replied that they are commenting on something nobody has seen yet.
“The problem which upset citizens concerns their pensions, but it did not upset the government enough to question its actions, instead of accusing the media and the public for misunderstanding (what they are proposing). In HDZ’s election programme, there is a clearly stated goal to increase investments in the 2nd (privately-run) pillar of the pension system, and today they are suggesting abolishing it,” said Petrov in Parliament.
He added that it was especially concerning that Labour Minister Marko Pavic had held a news conference in which he presented the upcoming pension reform and his calculation of pensions from both pillars.
“The only thing that the government cares about is fixing (budget) holes, and to hide the things going on in the background. They came up with a revolutionary reform now, basically sending a message saying ‘Give up on your savings, and we will give you 27 percent increase in the future. This will help us cover the debt, and will leave you without any savings’,” Petrov said.
Petrov went on to suggest that management fees paid to pension funds should be reduced instead, that the funds’ transparency should be improved, and that their dominant position in the market should be reduced. He called the reform proposed by Pavic “a complete dismantling of the original pension reform.”
“The government is allowing for the people to be robbed, and the pension system reform is just another one of their shows,” Petrov told Parliament.
MP Pedja Grbin of the Social Democrats (SDP) described the gist of the reform as “you will work a longer time, and we will give you your rights only if you give us your savings.”
“What the government is proposing is a blackmail of Croatians, forcing them to hand over what they have been working and saving for, so that some day the government would give them a 27 percent addition (on top of their pension). Perhaps the government thinks that because everybody is focused on the (ongoing) World Cup and the success of Croatian sportsmen we don’t see what is going on,” Grbin said.
He said that, along with the “attack” on the pension system, the health care system is also under threat, referring to the new health care bill that the government had sent to Parliament last week amid protests by doctors’ association.
“With this kind of health care law, nobody will even live long enough to benefit from pensions,” Grbin added. He called on the government to retract proposals that were floated in the public recently, and to discuss its plans with social partners.
MP Ivan Suker of the ruling HDZ replied by saying that the decision to extend the retirement age to 67 was made in 2014, back when a coalition led by SDP was in power.
“And yet nobody is saying now that you took 1.6 billion kuna (€217 million) from the 2nd pillar to doctor the state of finances in the country, because you were dealing with excessive deficit procedures,” Suker told SDP MPs.
He added that by commenting on the pension reform, opposition MPs are talking about something imaginary that nobody has seen yet.
“I do not wish to talk about the pension reform, because I haven’t seen what it entails yet, and nobody else has either,” Suker, who was formerly Finance Minister from 2003 to 2010, told Parliament.
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