Dresden (dpa / sn) – Saxony’s state parliament has rejected an application by the left to participate in the federal pension hardship fund with the votes of the CDU, Greens and SPD. In the previous debate, Green Party leader Franziska Schubert and SPD politician Sabine Friedel also spoke out in favor of the issue. However, they did not support the specific application by the left. In addition to participation in the fund and the associated doubling of the one-off payment for those affected, the left had also called for the hardship fund to be expanded into a justice fund for all affected professional groups, regardless of their need.
The hardship fund is primarily intended for East Germans whose pension entitlements from GDR times were not transferred to the federal German system. If they are deemed to be in need, they can receive a one-time payment of 2500 euros. The federal government has budgeted 500 million euros for the fund. It is to be looked after by a foundation. The countries have the opportunity to participate, then the payout would be doubled. So far, only Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania has agreed. In Saxony, apart from the CDU, all parties represented in the state parliament are in favor of it. The CDU had repeatedly made it clear that pensions are federal law. The Union also delivered this argument on Wednesday.
Schubert justified the rejection of her group for the application with different statements within the left. They would remain vague in the design of the Justice Fund. “Against the background mentioned, we cannot approve the application. Even if we understand and share the basic concern, for us Alliance Greens, the creation of economic and social, structural equality between East and West remains the far greater and more important task of the present and future.”
Just like Social Affairs Minister Petra Köpping (SPD), Friedel assumed that the decision-making process in the state government had not yet been completed. The Free State must decide by March 31 whether to participate. Friedel expressed the hope that the parliamentary debate could also contribute to introducing one or the other argument into the discussion. In any case, those affected should submit their applications now.
The AfD voted for the motion of the left. AfD parliamentary group leader Jörg Urban saw the unequal treatment of pensions as evidence that German unity is not yet complete. This is a bitter experience for affected professional groups. The promised adjustment of wages and pensions has not been implemented to this day. It is a shame that it has not been possible to remedy this injustice over such a long period of time.
