"The reform proposed by the government and passed by the parliament is a relatively mild reform, worthy of support, and the discussion on it should continue," the president said on the side of a forum of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris.
He added that in some ten years another review would be needed, saying that the pension reforms were long-term projects that should not be viewed only from the position of the most burning issues.
The president was not happy with the quality of the debate ahead of the referendum. He believes it is failing to provide enough figures and substantial arguments. Instead, it focuses too much on the dangers and limitation of workers' rights, the president believes.
According to him, the debate should be much more concrete on issues regarding retirement age, bonuses and overworked workers who deserve to retire earlier.
Refuting criticism expressed at yesterday's panel debate in Nova Gorica regarding his alleged passiveness in the pension reform debate, Tuerk said that he had been active, clear and precise about his position all along.
He said that he had often called for more precise calculations and that unfortunately a lot of his remarks "went unheard".
He underlined that he had been saying all along that the pension system had to be changed for demographic reasons. "We can't pretend that demographic trends don't concern us." An ageing population requires that work and retirement age should follow this trend, he added.
SOURCE: The Slovenia Times
