Danish voter anger over politicians' golden pension ratio

Monday, 19 March 2012
The issue where politician insulate themselves from any form of crisis while the population at large struggle is not only in capitalist societies such as the USA, UK and the like. It is also in the Scandinavian countries and its intensity if getting stronger.

Despite the perception that there is responsible politics in the Scandinavian countries, things are changing and we saw last week that Swedish parliamentarians have kept their benefits which was supposed to allow then for a short period after loosing the parliamentary activities. They have kept the benefits for many years even though they had proposed that ordinary people should do anything in the name of work after loosing their jobs instead of claiming benefits.

Now a look into Denmark also shows the same trend. Politicians here just like in Sweden, want the Danes to work more and longer. They have highlighted that both the early retirement age and pension age should be adjusted to that people stay in work for longer hours and at older age.

But this should not affect the elites and the special ones – themselves the politicians. This is not working well with the voters.

In fact, 9 out of 10 Danish voters are now calling for their politicians to raise their own retirement age, a new opinion poll show.

The politicians who have adopted the reform of early retirement and pension should continue working even after retiring at the age of 60 years, the Danish voters have called.

Back in 2006, the Danish parliament amended the rules so that the retirement age for MPs should increase with the early retirement age. But only for those who were elected to parliament after 2007.

Rules have never been changed for the politicians who were elected before 2007. And it's virtually all the leading politicians who have been in charge of raising the retirement age for most of the rest of the population, who are not affected, writes the Danish parliament, Althing.

Example is given as such - the Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt of the Social democrats – currently working, and the Liberal leader and former prime minister, Lars Lokke Rasmussen may obtain parliamentary pension and ministerial pension as young as 60-year-olds.
Their peers will have to wait to retire until they are 65 years and a retirement age of 68 years.

The large number of young MPs who came in parliament before 2007 are also included in the change in the retirement rules. They can also look forward to retirement at just 60 years. Their peers, however, can get the earliest retirement as 66-year-old and old-age pension at the earliest as 69-year-olds.

For example the Liberal Party's 40-year-old Vice-President, Kristian Jensen, Economy and Interior Minister Margaret Vestager 43 years, ex-Minister for Employment Inger Støjberg, 39 years and Employment Minister, Mette Frederiksen 34 years.

Alliance has made motions that all MPs can only get a pension when they reach the then-current age pension age. Only the Danish People's Party and Liberal Alliance support the proposal.

Both government parties S, R and SF and V and K refuses to change the politicians' retirement.
By Scancomark.se Team

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