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Greens lodge Federal Court appeal against 2022 pensions vote

lisa mazzone
The president of the Swiss Green Party, Lisa Mazzone. Keystone / Valentin Flauraud

The Federal Court will decide on the question of whether a 2022 Swiss vote on raising the retirement age for women from 64 to 65 must be repeated.

Recently, the women’s section of the left-wing Social Democratic Party and the Swiss Greens both filed complaints against the 2022 vote after revelations that government statistical forecasts about the health of the pension system had been miscalculated.

They argue that the outcome of the extremely close vote – approved by just 50.5% of voters in September 2022 – was thus achieved based on false arguments.

+ Read more: miscalculations and a fiasco for democracy

The Greens filed their complaints in Zurich and Geneva. Now the latter has made a decision not to intervene – because the vote was a federal, not a cantonal one – the party will thus take its appeal to the Federal Court level, it said on Tuesday.

“We expect a quick decision from the court in order to provide clarity for all women,” said the Green Party’s president, Lisa Mazzone. They specifically say that clarity is needed before the new retirement age comes into force on January 1, 2025.

A fortnight ago, the Federal Social Insurance Office revised the financial outlook for the future of the pension system, calculating that expenditure in 2033 is likely to be some CHF4 billion ($4.7 billion) lower than previously calculated.

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Adapted from German by DeepL/dos

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