Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has every right to feel that he is a co-author of raising the retirement age in Poland, said Donald Tusk, chairman of the Civic Coalition. In this way, he referred to the previous statements of the current head of government.
– In my circle, there was no expert or politician more committed to promoting the increase in the retirement age than the Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki – said the leader of the Civic Platform on Wednesday in Zgierz Donald Tusk. As he stated, “Prime Minister Morawiecki has every right to feel responsible for raising the ageor co-author of raising the retirement age in Poland.
– When it comes to the retirement age, please ask Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki from today why he advocated so zealously and publicly for raising the retirement age. At the time, he was a respected expert who had worked with my government. Please ask him what happened in his head that now he pretends to be involved in the opposite direction, Tusk said.
What Morawiecki said about the retirement age
In the text “Tusk’s two rules are to save finances” dated January 30, 2010, the “Rzeczpospolita” daily quoted Mateusz Morawiecki, who was then the president of Bank Zachodni WBK. As “Rz” reminds, Morawiecki was one of the commentators assessing the assumptions for changes in public finances presented by Tusk.
– In the economy, miracle recipes are an illusion – Morawiecki said then, adding that “the main economic goals of the government have been well diagnosed.” – I hope that the government will act determinedly to raise and equalize the retirement age income criterion in KRUS and the abolition of the privileges of uniformed services – he said.
Mateusz Morawiecki later became a member of the Economic Council of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, on which he sat in 2010-2012.
“Retirement doesn’t come from the sky”
A few years later, in 2016, journalist Konrad Piasecki asked the then Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Development Mateusz Morawiecki on RMF FM whether he was in favor of lowering the retirement age. – I am a supporter of people having the opportunity to work as much as they want, but at the same time making them aware that they are responsible for the level of their pensions in this way. If they work shorter hours, the pension will be much lower. This pension does not come from heaven, but from the money earned on an ongoing basis, this is the system we have, he noted.
– I am a supporter of the system that is commonly called the Canadian one. There is a minimum state pension, (…) certainly providing decent living conditions. However, over time, people should take more care of themselves about the rest of the money, Morawiecki said.
The government is preparing for the European Commission National Reconstruction Plan he announced, among other things, “actions aimed at increasing the ability and motivation of workers to remain in the labor market after reaching retirement age” and “taking measures to increase the effective retirement age.”
Retirement age in the election campaign
The retirement age from October 1, 2017 is 60 years for women and 65 years for men. The regulations restored the retirement age that was in force before the reform of the PO-PSL government, which decided to raise it in stages to 67.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and other PiS politicians talked about the issue of retirement age many times during the ongoing election campaign, reminding Donald Tusk that he headed a government that wanted to increase the retirement age. The issue of retirement age is also one of the questions in the referendum that will be held on the day of the parliamentary elections.
Donald Tusk himself assures during his meetings with voters that he does not intend to change the retirement age. – I want to say it very clearly. Nobody in Poland at the moment, I don’t know of any political force, that intends to raise the retirement age. I said this on the first day after returning to Polish politics, said the PO chairman in Zgierz on Wednesday.
– I returned to Polish politics not to change the retirement age – he said. – I learned something very important. Polish men and women have said quite clearly that they want to work as long as they want, and not that it is due to any compulsion, Tusk said.
– Don’t even try to convince anyone that someone wants to raise the retirement age. I certainly don’t, Tusk emphasized.
Main photo source: PAP/Darek Delmanowicz