The Central Election Commission rejected the proposal of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation to hold a referendum on the retirement age • The Bell • RIMA

The Central Election Commission rejected the proposal of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation to hold a referendum on the retirement age

The Central Election Commission rejected the Communist Party's proposal to hold a referendum on raising the retirement age. This decision was made by the CEC members at a meeting on Friday.

Details

The Central Election Commission recognized the wording of the question that the Communist Party of the Russian Federation proposes to submit to an all-Russian referendum against raising the retirement age as not complying with the requirements of the law. The CEC did not like the vague wording of the question, which, in the opinion of the commission, could mislead citizens. As Maya Grishina, secretary of the CEC, explained, “citizens need to have special knowledge in order to understand the content of this issue.”
During the meeting, CEC chairman Ella Pamfilova said that the commission was ready to help the Communist Party formulate the question of the retirement age for the referendum so that it passed the approval procedure.
The Communists wanted to submit to the All-Russian referendum the question, which was formulated as follows: “Do you agree that in the Russian Federation the age that gives the right to an old-age insurance pension should not increase?” They submitted an application for holding a referendum to the Moscow City Electoral Committee, which sent it to the CEC for consideration.
The government submitted a bill on pension reform to the State Duma on June 16. It involves a phased increase in the retirement age to 65 for men by 2028 and to 63 for women by 2034. On July 19, the bill passed its first reading in the lower house of parliament. Later, President Vladimir Putin said that he, like most Russians, did not like any option for raising the retirement age and promised to listen to all opinions on this issue. The second reading of the bill will take place in the fall.
The pension reform has already led to a wave of protests across the country, which drew thousands of people.