The Parliament is facing legal challenges in its bid to abolish multiple pensions for state officials. The Law Office has raised constitutional objections to any proposals that would affect existing officials.
During a discussion in the Parliamentary Committee on Finance on Monday, the Law Office representative expressed concerns about a draft bill proposed by MPs Demetris Demetriou, Irene Charalambidou, Alexandra Attalides, and Stavros Papadouris.
She argued that officials cannot have their pensions taken away simply because they have been appointed as ministers. She pointed out that MPs cannot interfere with pension rights acquired before 2012, when the law governing public servant pensions was passed.
The Auditor General, Odysseas Michaelides, insisted that the regulations for public servants since 2012 should also apply to state officials.
He explained that officials who leave the public sector for state positions will receive their earned pension up to 2012 and the remainder upon retirement.
Due to the legal obstacles and complexity of the new regulations, the Parliamentary Finance Committee will meet informally next Thursday to find a solution.
The MPs aim to merge the draft laws and agree on a formula that covers both current and future officials. The proposal must comply with the Supreme Court’s 2012 decision on pension expectations.
The President of the Finance Committee and MP for DIKO, Christiana Erotokritou, said that MPs want to include existing state officials in the restrictive regulations. She added that each of the 30 official positions must be examined individually and that the regulations found will apply to both current and future officials.
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