The presidential scalpel points to luxury retirements
Claudia Sheinbaum today announced an initiative to end with a stroke the “privileged” pensions earned by former high-level officials. The move is to modify article 127 of the Constitution.
The rule would be clear: no pension of a former trusted official may exceed 50% of the president’s salary. An iron limit for golden withdrawals.
“It is a paragraph in constitutional 127 that has to do with pensions without privileges, that is, former high-ranking officials who are currently receiving onerous pensions,” Sheinbaum explained.
According to his calculations, the savings for the treasury would be around 5 billion pesos. Money that, he promises, will be redirected to social programs. The initiative reaches the Senate on Monday.
The fine print and possible setbacks
Here comes the interesting thing. The president admitted that the proposal would not apply to former ministers of the Supreme Court. Yes, it would cover former federal officials and decentralized organizations.
And of course, anticipate legal battles. But he winks at his own judicial reform: he recalled that protections against constitutional changes now have new limitations.
Along the way, she dropped another pearl: in the future electoral reform it will be proposed that electoral councilors not earn more than her. “Because many of them take refuge,” he said.
The personal case as an example (or as a curtain)
Sheinbaum used his own situation to teach a lesson. He said that upon assuming the presidency he resigned from his position at UNAM after exhausting the maximum license. And that his future pension from the ISSSTE, for his years of service, would be about 30 thousand pesos.
A calculated gesture. Symbolic or substantial? Time will tell if this constitutional scalpel manages to nip privileges in the bud or only scratches the surface.
