SaS: If State Doesn't Have Money for 13th Pensions, Then It Shouldn't Pay Them

Bratislava, February 25 (TASR) - If the state doesn't have the money to pay 13th pensions, it shouldn't pay them, chairman of the opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party Branislav Groehling said in response to the statement by Interior Minister and Voice-SD chairman Matus Sutaj Estok that SaS is an antisocial rightist party that wants to take from the people. "Once the state doesn't have the money for 13th pensions, then logically it shouldn't pay them. If you have €200 left on your account until the next payday, you don't make a €600 purchase," stated Groehling. The money the state spends on 13th pensions doesn't grow on a tree, according to Groehling. It is increasing the debt and all working people in Slovakia are paying for it. At the same time, the economic situation is worsening and people's lives are becoming more expensive. According to Groehling, people need to be told the truth. "We don't have the money, we can't give you a 13th pension," stated Groehling, adding that the coalition could do everything it could to kick-start the economy so that pensions could be increased across the board. "The anti-social right on Sunday [February 23] confirmed its intention to scrap 13th pensions immediately. Groehling and his SaS party regularly declare that they believe that our pensioners are just a burden on the Slovak economy. Now they are openly saying that if they, together with Progressive Slovakia and [Igor] Matovic ['Slovakia' party], were to come to power, they would immediately scrap 13th pensions and introduce other anti-social measures. The end of 13th pensions, an increase in VAT on basic foodstuffs, the transfer of health care only to large cities and the mindless support for war - this is the agenda of the opposition parties," Sutaj Estok wrote on a social network. am/mcs