Payments entirely appropriate

How long should an executive politician benefit financially after failing to be re-elected? This question always causes a lot of discussion. The so-called ‘golden parachutes’ are increasingly criticised nowadays, and the rules are different from canton to canton. In the City of Zug, for example, voters said yes to the "Stop golden parachutes for city councillors - No to inflated severance payments” initiative in 2009.
 
In some cantons, magistrates have a lifetime entitlement to pension payments, while others only provide limited payments. Only recently, the pensions of ex-government councillors were an issue in the canton of Basel-Stadt, and the lifelong payments to Federal Councillors are always a cause for criticism. Severance payments for non-re-elected members of the government could become an issue again following next Sunday’s local elections, with at least ten people running for the seven posts.
 
While other cantons are currently revising their compensation systems, Zug did this about 15 years ago. Since then, councillors who leave their posts before the reaching the age of 64, either through resignation or failure to be re-elected, receive a partial continuation of salary. According to the law, this is 50 percent of their last salary. The number of years in office is of central importance here. Anyone who has been in office for less than four years receives payments for six months, while this extends to twelve months for four or more years in office. Experts regard this as an appropriate regulation.
 
Before this amendment, the compensation for deselected or retiring councillors was more generous. This can be seen from example published in ‘Blick’ last week as part of a survey of all the cantons. According to this report, Canton Zug paid a former councillor nearly CHF 200,000 this year, partly as a pension, and partly as a contribution to the pension fund. This former councillor will receive almost CHF 83,000 in 2015. This is an isolated case, however, resulting from a transitional provision, explains cantonal secretary Tobias Moser. "This transitional arrangement expires next year."