Thu, Oct 26th 2023
On March 3, 2024, the people and the cantons will decide on two popular initiatives on pension provision. On the one hand, they have to decide on the introduction of a 13th AHV pension, and on the other hand, on the pension initiative of the Young Freedom Party (Jungfreisinnigen).
The Federal Council has decided at its meeting on Wednesday to bring the two proposals in the spring to the vote, as he announced.
Behind the initiative “For a better life in old age” is the Swiss Federation of Trade Unions (SGB). It demands a 13th monthly pension for AHV pensioners.
With the popular initiative “For a secure and sustainable pension system (pension initiative)”, the Young Free Alliance wants to link the retirement age to average life expectancy. In a first step, it would be raised to 66 years for both sexes. After that, the retirement age would rise by 0.8 months per month of additional life expectancy. The Federal Council and Parliament recommend that both referendums be rejected.
In addition to the two initiatives on pension provision, the cost-braking initiative of the center party, the premium relief initiative of the SP and the initiative “For freedom and physical integrity (stop vaccination)” from among the opponents of the Corona measures are currently ready for a vote. Several other petitions are pending in parliament.
The Federal Council’s decision on Wednesday also means that voters will not decide on the reform of the occupational bill until a later date. The referendum against the BVG reform is also ready for a vote.
As to why the Federal Council decided against a “pension referendum Sunday” with three proposals, the Federal Chancellery did not provide any information when asked by the Keystone-SDA news agency. It pointed out that the deliberations of the national government were confidential.
Parliament had passed the BVG reform in the spring session of 2023. In principle, the Federal Council must put referendum bills and popular initiatives to a vote in parliament within ten months of the final vote. However, if the handling of a matter in parliament falls in an election year, the deadline is extended to 16 months, as the Federal Chancellery explained. This is the case with the BVG reform.
The referendum next March will be the first in which new transparency requirements apply. For the first time, political actors must disclose campaign budgets of 50,000 francs or more and the names of the senders of donations of 15,000 francs or more. They must submit the corresponding information to the Swiss Federal Audit Office by March 18.
©Keystone/SDA
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