Parat files criminal complaint about Zug government expenses
Published: Thursday, Mar 14th 2024, 18:30
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The Parat party has filed a criminal complaint against the entire Zug government for misconduct in office. It accuses the government of having invoiced joint meals and retreats separately, even though meals and overnight stays were covered by a lump sum of 5 percent of the salary.
The Party for Rational Politics, Universal Human Rights and Participation (Parat) announced on Thursday that it had come across the allegedly unlawful debits in documents requested under the Public Access Act.
According to the law on the legal status of members of the government council, the defendants would presumably receive a flat rate of 5 percent of their salary as expenses, which would cover all expenses for business trips, meals and accommodation in Switzerland, writes Parat President Stefan Thöni in the criminal complaint.
In it, Thöni lists 26 bookings. These included "presumably all or most" of the meals or overnight stays for members of the cantonal government, which are already covered by this lump sum, Thöni continues.
Government provides no information
At the request of Keystone-SDA, the mayor of Zug, Silvia Thalmann-Gut (center), stated that the government would not provide any information "due to ongoing proceedings and out of respect for the separation of powers". The public prosecutor's office responsible for criminal prosecution is part of the judicial authorities in the canton of Zug. In addition, the government council's expenses regulations are public and politically accepted.
Parat is now calling for the Judicial Review Commission to authorize criminal proceedings against the members of the cantonal government and to appoint a public prosecutor from outside the canton.
In January, the Swiss television program "Kassensturz" revealed that Bernese government councillors had charged for snacks such as a banana or a pretzel. As a result, the government commissioned an amendment to the expenses regulations.
©Keystone/SDA
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