A productive discussion with the parties on the government proposals in order to resolve the issue of the multiple pensions of state officials, stated that he expects the Minister of Finance Makis Keraynos, stressing that all the questions of the parties have been answered by the Legal Service, which had legally processed the proposals of the government, as defined by the Constitution.
In his statements today, Makis Keravnos insisted that "this particular Government is the only Government that for the first time took the initiative to submit very specific proposals to end this issue called multiple pensions for 43 years, since 1980 when some were submitted to the Parliament, it provokes society".
As he said, the proposals of the Government, "have undergone legal technical control by the Legal Service and were made under the guidance of the official legal advisor of the Republic of Cyprus, who, based on article 113 of the Constitution, is the Attorney General".
He explained that this was "done to ensure that the proposals we will table do not suffer the fate of previous proposals by MPs or even by parties, which were then, after much debate, found to be unconstitutional".
Mr. Keravnos referred to the last meeting with the parties, saying that they were informed in a timely manner regarding the nine specific questions they had raised about the constitutionality of the proposals, as well as other questions, which were answered "one by one" by the Legal Service.
"And I expect that the opinions presented by the Government will finally be subject to a productive discussion so that there will be an end to this matter," he stressed.
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"Joke" that pensions have been replaced by tips
Asked to comment on the criticism leveled at the Government that with the proposals it has replaced multiple pensions with a one-time tip, Mr. Keravnos said that "I think this is a joke to say".
"And if the actuary was allowed to present his study from the first meeting, it would be clear that there is no issue of multiple tips," he added.
Asked to report data on the reduction of pension costs based on the actuarial study, the Ministry of Finance said that the actuarial study has already been given to the parties, adding that "it is known that very significant savings result if the Government's proposals are implemented."
But he pointed out that "the main aim is not to make savings, but the main aim is to stop this issue of multiple pensions, which challenges society when you serve in an office and get a pension at the same time".
"From there on," he continued, "as to whether we should or can legally go back to suspend or renounce pensions, etc., all of these have been answered one by one by the Legal Service and, I repeat, that we as the , we have an obligation and responsibility to act within the framework determined by our legal advisor based on the Constitution and, finally, let me re-emphasize that this is the first time that the Government has submitted specific proposals to address this issue".
When asked if he considers that the reactions of parties on this issue are part of the upcoming elections, Mr. Keravnos said that he cannot answer that.
The Government acts responsibly throughout its term of office and if such an issue arises, I think it is others who must answer and not the Minister of Finance, he said.
Finally, when asked to comment on the Audit Service's position that the Parliament should take up the issue, since the Government "doesn't really want to solve the issue", Mr. Keravnos said that when the Government brings specific proposals to deal with this issue and the Legal Service confirms that these proposals are constitutional or that it is the best that can be done so that we do not have the same phenomena that we have had for 43 years that this matter has been discussed, then I think that the will and will of the Government is that he "clearly wants to resolve this matter."
Source: KYPE