THE HOUSE Plenum yesterday rejected the President’s veto of a law that would increase secondary teachers’ retirement age from 60 to 63.

President Demetris Christofias now has a fortnight to decide whether to accept the rejection or send the matter to the Supreme Court.

The decision was made with 25 votes in favour of the rejection from main opposition DISY, coalition partner DIKO and former coalition partner EDEK. Ruling AKEL, the Green Party and European Party voted against with 18 votes.  There were no abstentions.

Two referred law proposals were rejected – one that would increase teachers’ retirement age from 60 to 63 years old and another that would offer teachers the ability to retire at any point between their 60th and 63rd year. The proposals had been submitted by the Chairman of the House Education Committee, DISY’s Nicos Tornaritis, along with DIKO’s Nicolas Papadopoulos and Athena Kyriakidou.

Those in favour of Christofias’ referral claimed the two laws contradicted the state’s aim to improve and refresh public education, while the added financial burden would intensify problems faced by the pensions fund as well as unemployment among youths.

In particular, AKEL’s Pambis Kyritsis pointed out that the new laws only served a handful of workers, while increasing their retirement lump-sum, as well as their pensions.

“Do (the laws) serve the public’s best interests, or those of education or even the state’s finances?” Kyritsis asked. “They serve none of the above,” he added.

EVROKO’s Demetris Syllouris and the Green Party’s George Perdikes said they accepted Christofias’ explanation that the laws would be unconstitutional, as well as harmful to public finances. But they both underlined their opposition to the President’s other justification – that teachers become “mentally and physically tired after the age of 60”.

The comment, which led to 64-year-old Christofias being described as “ageist”  on Wednesday – provoked further reactions yesterday.

DISY’s Andreas Themistocleous said the President should look at his own performance “when he justifies his referral by saying teachers at the age of 63 are mentally tired and suffer from mental confusion and inflexibility”.

DIKO’s Athena Kyriakidou directed her ire at both Christofias and Finance Minister, Charilaos Stavrakis, who she criticised for failing to present parliament with the exact costs of the proposed laws.

“An entire Finance Ministry has still not managed to present us with a survey into the cost of an increase in teachers’ retirement age, despite being asked by the Education Committee to do so since March 9,” said Kyriakidou. “I honestly wonder how we can trust the Finance Minister with the other more complicated bills for the economy seeing that we are in the midst of a financial crisis.”

She questioned whether everyone holding key positions in the government and managing the state’s future were also suffering from physical and mental weariness, seeing that they were mostly well over the age of 60.

Meanwhile, during the plenary session, members of an association of teachers against the retirement age extension held a demonstration outside the House building and handed a petition to House President Marios Garoyian.

The petition was also handed to Christofias earlier in the day, by representatives of students’ organisations.