CHP's Ağbaba reacts to AKP on pension hikes: "Budget resources exist for cronies, not for retirees"

CHP's Veli Ağbaba issued a sharp response to AKP Group Deputy Chairman Abdullah Güler's statement regarding additional pension hikes. Responding to Güler's words, "impact analyses, budget resources, and assessments of proportional increases will be evaluated in the Cabinet next week," Ağbaba criticized the AKP government.

Ağbaba stated that the government does not consider the state of the budget when it comes to issues like tax amnesties for cronies, and that budget constraints are never mentioned when it comes to waste or when salaries are increased by three or five times. Criticizing the low salaries paid to retirees, Ağbaba expressed that promises made before the elections have not been kept and that no raise has been granted to retirees.

Addressing AKP Group Chairman Abdullah Güler, Ağbaba stated that if they are sincere, they could pass a proposal for a pension hike through Parliament within an hour if they were to submit it. He also criticized the 12 percent difference between the raises given to civil servants and civil servant retirees versus those given to workers and Bağ-Kur retirees, stating that this imbalance must be corrected.

Ağbaba also leveled harsh criticism regarding the sharing of photographs of high-level MİT officials by the President and the Minister of Justice. Describing the disclosure of the identities of MİT personnel—which had been kept secret for years—by the highest-ranking state officials as "AKP-style politics," Ağbaba made this situation a subject of criticism.

News Source: 12punto