Traffic light off
Lindner’s expulsion will cost him dearly
Christian Lindner and his FDP colleagues will lose their ministerial salaries if the traffic light is turned off and will have no pension rights. That could cost her 4,900 euros per month in old age.
The coalition failed because of money. But money is also at stake in the pension entitlements that Christian Lindner, Marco Buschmann and Bettina Stark-Watzinger acquired as federal ministers. Or not. Because as things stand, the ministers’ early departure is also reflected in their wallets. Not because of politics as a self-service shop.
One thing can be said: the three Liberals will not fall too hard in the short term, as they all also have a mandate in the Bundestag. Still, money is now, well, tighter. So far, the three Liberals have received the full ministerial salary (around 18,000 euros gross) and half the MP’s compensation (just over 5,000 euros). From December onwards, the ministers who were dismissed by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Thursday will receive a transitional allowance, which will, however, be offset against their now full MP diet (around 10,000 euros) and thus practically used up.
Things are likely to be even more painful in retirement. According to Section 15 of the Federal Ministerial Act, a federal minister normally only acquires the right to a pension after four years. This then amounts to a comfortable 4,900 euros per month. Lindner, Buschmann and Stark-Watzinger were only in office for just under three years.
Does a legal fiction help the FDP ministers after the traffic light goes out?
A clause in Section 15 states that a special regulation applies to ministers who lose their ministerial office under certain conditions after a term of office of at least two but less than four years. This is called legal fiction – and that should be taken literally. Because these ministers act as if they had been in office for a total of four years. If this clause were to apply to the three FDP ministers, they would also be entitled to pension claims.
Well, isn’t everything fragrant for Lindner, Buschmann and Stark-Watzinger? Politics is a self-service shop after all.
Not at all. The crux of the matter is the specific conditions under which the ministers lost their office prematurely. These are regulated in paragraphs 9 and 15 of the Federal Ministerial Act. In order to benefit from the legal fiction, a minister must have been dismissed because the Chancellor left office, for example through a constructive vote of no confidence. Another reason is the dissolution of the Bundestag. However, neither is the case in the case of the traffic light or the minority government that is left of it.
Because the Chancellor is still in office, there’s nothing
As is well known, the Federal Chancellor is still Federal Chancellor. Lindner was fired because Olaf Scholz no longer wanted him as finance minister, Buschmann and Stark-Watzinger resigned of their own free will. And the Federal President has not yet dissolved the Bundestag.
According to several of the star According to the experts interviewed, Lindner, Stark-Watzinger and Buschmann have not yet acquired any pension rights. One day when they retire, that could be another reason why they don’t really have fond memories of the traffic light coalition.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
