Costa Rica Moves to Strip Former Presidents of Monthly 12 Million Won Pensions

The Costa Rican government has submitted a bill to the legislature to completely abolish privileged pensions for former presidents that exceed 12 million won per month.

During a national address on the 17th (local time), Costa Rican President Laura Fernández explained the background of the bill, stating that cumulative pensions paid to seven former presidents as of last month exceeded 5.469 billion colones, or approximately 17 billion won.

The bill contains high-intensity measures that strip all former presidents of their pensions immediately upon promulgation, without exceptions based on income levels or grace periods.

Notably, it includes provisions to completely forfeit the pension-receiving rights after retirement for both President Fernández herself and the immediate predecessor.

President Fernández emphasized that she cannot be an exception, stating, "The principle of fairness dictates that all citizens receive pensions only in proportion to what they have actually contributed."

Currently, former presidents of Costa Rica receive pensions amounting to approximately 12.6 million won per month after leaving office.

It was revealed that some former presidents never paid a single pension contribution during their terms, began receiving pensions in their early 40s, or collected up to three pensions simultaneously, bringing their cumulative amounts close to 3 billion won.

In response, President Fernández strongly criticized the system, saying, "While working-class families wait for subsistence-level pensions of barely 300,000 won a month, public taxes were used for the luxurious lifestyles of former presidents who didn't even pay contributions."

President Fernández plans to hold a press conference on the 19th (local time) to announce detailed implementation plans for the bill.

However, as similar past legislation has repeatedly failed due to opposition from the legislature, attention is focused on whether this bill can clear the parliamentary hurdle.

(Reported by Lee Hyeon-yeong, Video edited by Lee Yu-jin, Design by Lee Jeong-ju, Produced by SBS Digital News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.