RT — Communists oppose government initiative to raise pension age

Russia still has a left, unlike the US.

The Russian Labor Ministry has repeatedly proposed increasing the retirement age from the current 55 years for women and 60 years for men to a universal 65 years. The move was dismissed when the economy was on the rise, but as Russia encountered a slowdown in the economy, the suggestion made it into the national anti-crisis plan, revealed in early 2015.

This caused a wave of criticism from opposition politicians and mass media. On Tuesday, MP Valery Trapeznikov of the parliamentary majority United Russia party proposed a discussion of the increase of pension age only for certain categories of citizens, such as lawmakers themselves.

Trapeznikov said this as Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev was delivering his annual report on the state of national economy to the State Duma. Medvedev backed the move.
However, the head of the Communist Party in the Duma, Ivan Melnikov, said that he would rather see the new approach tested on the government ministers.

RT
Communists oppose government initiative to raise pension age