Poland's president seeks to lower retirement age

WARSAW - Poland's President Andrzej Duda said yesterday he is asking the country's lawmakers to lower the retirement age, in a move that would reverse a recent reform by the government.

Duda's announcement comes ahead of the Oct. 25 general election in which the conservative Law and Justice party that backs him is expected to win over the governing Civic Platform.

Duda said that he wants women to be able to retire at the age of 60 and men, at 65, or to choose to continue to work. Continuation would raise the pension they would be eventually getting. The draft law does not specify the minimal length of professional life.

Effective in 2013, the Civic Platform government raised the retirement age to 67 for men and women. It argued that the aging society needs to work longer in order to earn sufficient pensions.

Duda's aide, Anna Surowka-Pasek, said the new plan would cost some 40 billion zlotys ($10.7 billion) but would also free jobs for young people at a time when Poland's jobless rate hovers around 10 percent.