Spend pensions without becoming a pensioner? Everything will be done in Latvia to prevent a referendum 0 33

What do lawyers say?

The Central Election Commission (CEC) has taken a pause to weigh all legal arguments once again. At the same time, the CEC promises to meet the legally established deadline: a decision must be made within 45 days from the date of receiving the application, that is, in this case — no later than May 7.

According to rumors, the applicants may be denied the opportunity to collect signatures on the grounds that the Constitution prohibits referendums on budget and tax issues, while a number of legal experts assert that the second pension level savings are indirectly related to taxes, as these savings are formed from a monthly deduction of 5 percent from salaries, which is a kind of tax within the framework of mandatory social insurance payments.

In turn, the authors of the initiative are convinced that a referendum on this issue is possible, as it does not affect the amount of contributions to the second pension level. The referendum is not being held to determine whether the second level system is needed or not — politicians are asking the public a different question: whether to allow a person to withdraw their own savings prematurely.

It is noteworthy that parallel attempts are being made in the Saeima to "touch" the second pension level savings. Moreover, now, alongside the opposition, the coalition partners, the "Green Farmers," are also ready to open a discussion on this issue. Initially, a discussion of this initiative by the "Green Farmers" was scheduled for today at the coalition council. However, due to the absence of the Prime Minister, the discussion will likely be postponed to next week.

Withdraw for a valid reason

According to unofficial information, if (rather — when) the partners ("New Unity") refuse to support the proposals of the "Green Farmers," they will take their initiative directly to the Saeima.

The Union of Greens and Farmers, let us remind you, offers only a limited option for withdrawing second-level savings — if the owner of these savings or their close relatives urgently need funds for treatment of a serious illness. A similar option is proposed by the opposition National Alliance. Meanwhile, the "Latvia First" deputies believe that residents should have the right to withdraw their savings for other needs — for example, to pay off a mortgage or for education expenses...

It is noteworthy that last week the ruling parties supported a more "harmless" option affecting the second pension level. This concerns the right to inherit these savings. The current law appears to be intentionally drafted in such a way that if a person did not manage to or even did not know that they had to make a mark allowing relatives to inherit their savings, those savings effectively go to the state!

And now two opposition factions — the National Alliance and "Latvia First" — have prepared amendments that, if adopted, will relieve a person of the need to mark anything — in the event of their death before reaching retirement age, their relatives will be able to inherit the savings. The ruling parties agreed to forward these bills for consideration by the relevant committee of the Saeima.