SP women and Greens lodge complaint against AHV 21 vote
Published: Friday, Aug 9th 2024, 17:50
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The SP Women Switzerland and the Greens Switzerland are lodging an appeal against the 2022 vote on raising the women's retirement age from 64 to 65 (AHV 21). The SP women said on Friday that women had been deprived of a year's pension in the extremely close vote using false arguments.
The fact that the women were deprived of a year's pension was due to calculation errors in the AHV's financial forecasts, according to a statement from SP Women Switzerland. The financial situation of the AHV is now forecast to be up to CHF 14 billion better than previously assumed for the coming years.
The "seemingly dramatic prospects" were "one of the main reasons for the wafer-thin Yes to AHV 21", wrote the SP women, who lodged their complaints in the cantons of Bern and Neuchâtel.
The increase in the retirement age for women was accepted by just 50.5 percent in September 2022.
In its press release, SP Women Switzerland states that "the complaint is directed solely against the result of the AHV 21 vote and not against the clearer Yes to the increase in VAT in favor of the AHV". The conservative parties must "finally stop their plans to cut pensions" and protect the purchasing power of pensioners. Old-age poverty in Switzerland is female.
Greens: Important for democracy
Due to the incorrect figures, it was not possible for the population to make their voting decision on the basis of reliable facts, according to a press release issued by the Swiss Green Party on Friday.
An annulment of the vote was therefore particularly appropriate from a democratic policy perspective. It should serve to strengthen the public's trust in democratic decision-making.
Furthermore, the increase in the women's retirement age is no longer justified in view of the improved financial situation of the AHV - and it is also wrong from an equality policy perspective, the Greens wrote. They lodged their complaints in the cantons of Zurich and Geneva.
In a statement on Friday, the Swiss Federation of Trade Unions (SGB) backed the complaints against the vote. For the SGB, it is clear that with realistic financial scenarios, the outcome of the vote would have been different. The vote must be annulled.
Already wrong in the voting booklet
The Federal Social Insurance Office (FSIO) revised the financial outlook for the AHV downwards on Tuesday. AHV expenditure in 2033 is likely to be around four billion francs or around six percent lower than previously calculated. This means that the AHV's financial situation is better than assumed.
The figures in the Federal Council's message and in the voting booklet on raising the retirement age for women in summer 2022 were already incorrect. This was confirmed by the Federal Social Insurance Office (FSIO) on Friday to the Keystone-SDA news agency following a report on the SRF program "Rendez-vous".
©Keystone/SDA
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