Parliament launches
external pension probe
The Norwegian Parliament agreed Tuesday to set up an independent commission to investigate its own controversial pension system. Critics think it's too little, too late.
 A pension uproar broke out last week at the Norwegian Parliament. PHOTO: KYRRE LIEN / SCANPIX |
| Related stories: |
| Students cheating, too - 01.09.2008 |
| Brundtland may face pension enquiry - 29.08.2008 |
| MP's generous pension plans may be scrapped - 28.08.2008 |
| Ex-MPs deny pension fraud - 27.08.2008 |
| Ex-MPs caught cheating on their pensions - 26.08.2008 |
The parliamentary authorities are under pressure after the leader of the left-wing Red Party reported six former members of parliament to the police, charging them with possible pension fraud.
"Some of them should be put behind bars," party leader Torstein Dahle told news bureau NTB on Monday. He's among many politicians calling for a reform of the parliament's generous pension benefits.
Dahle's move raised the level of conflict over the controversial pension system, which also has been called "complicated" and "open to interpretation." Politicians have disagreed themselves over how its benefits can be paid out, and who's eligible for what.
The conflict broke loose last week after news emerged that state auditors were claiming that several former MPs had collected millions of kroner worth of pension benefits to which they weren't entitled.
The commission will now review all cases highlighted by state auditors, along with all pension payments issued in accordance with a controversial provision that can allow politicians as young as 47 to retire with full benefits.
The commission will also be asked to examine the entire pension system, which the president of the parliament, Thorbjørn Jagland, has suggested may be outdated.
Jagland also said he was sorry that several former MPs had been singled out and criticized over the amount of pension benefits they'd collected, before they were given a chance by the parliament to respond to auditors' charges of overpayments.
Nina Berglund/NTB
No comments:
Post a Comment