Hasn’t the PN government squandered enough millions of liri of taxpayers’ money on projects ending up costing double or more (as in the case of ‘Mater Dei’)?

Why does it continue to pump hundreds of thousands of liri more on pure propaganda on the budget measures – and viler still, on announced projects for the Grand Harbour area when such projects may never happen – repeating these adverts ad nauseum on all newspapers, each day of the week?

Where else in Europe, or any other civilised and democratic country, does a government embark on such scandalous use of public money, advertising budget measures for months on end after the budget had already been presented to parliament and was broadcast live on the state TV and radio stations? Is it not too obvious that this is being done as part of the PN’s electoral campaign with the difference being, that it is being financed by all taxpayers of different political sympathies? Is this the “new way of doing politics” promised by Dr Gonzi when he was anointed “prime minister” by his predecessor?

Besides this, to name just one advert, the message could be deceiving readers who may think that if the PN is re-elected, they could carry on working and receiving their full pension on reaching the present retiring age of 60 (women) and 61 years (men).

In my view, this budget measure was announced more to make people forget the PN government’s plan, announced on 1 March 2006, to gradually raise the retiring age to 65 years.

The woman in the said advert says: “My husband can continue working and still receive his full pension”. She says nothing about the fact that if her husband is now in his early 40s (and the woman in the advert looks to be in her early 40s), he will have to work an extra four years – and pay his NI contribution too – before he will be able to start receiving his full pension even if he decides, or can, continue working at the same time, because retiring age would have been raised to 65 years by then.

What this would mean is that her husband would have lost around Lm12,000 (on present day average pension of around Lm3,000) and a further loss of Lm2,400 – totalling Lm14,400 – on a NI contribution of Lm600 per annum (on a salary of Lm6,000, which is an average salary today). With wages and NI contributions certainly going up heftily in the next 20 years or so, her husband’s loss will be much higher still.

Only those who are already 60/61 years of age and still working, will be able to benefit from such a measure – as long as they are not already 64 years old – as well as those in the current 55 to 60 years bracket – who will be able to benefit fully for four years, receiving their full pension as well as their salary until they reach the new retiring age of 65 years.

Those who will not be allowed to carry on working beyond the present pensionable age of 60/61, or do not wish to carry on working, will not benefit anything at all. Or lose part of their pension when retiring age starts to be raised gradually up to 65 years.

The woman in that advert – paid for by you and I and not the PN cashier – must be one of those who have forgotten the PN government’s plan for pension reform announced on 1 March 2006. The above scenario, of course, comes into play if the PN hangs on to power at all costs.

Eddy Privitera

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