«My commissioner at INPS unmotivated political and institutional aggression»- Corriere.it

«I don’t know why they replace me, you have to ask the government. Contrary to the results, it is certainly a political decision. I was appointed by a political government, the Conte 1 government, but at the expiry of my predecessor and not with a commissioner”. Thus replies the outgoing INPS president, Pasquale Tridico, guest of Tagadà on La7.

“Institutional aggression”

Tridico also underlines that the decree also determines the forfeiture of the board of directors and of the director general of the Institute: “I consider it an institutional aggression,” he says. Tridico underlines the work carried out at the helm of the Institute between 2019 and 2023underlining that “in these four years we have changed the face of INPS from a technological and innovative point of view, also thanks to the projects we have carried out within the Pnrr, we have over 400 services and online services”, he points out, noting the asset of over 7 billion with which INPS closed the 2022 budget.

The commissioner

On 4 May, with a decree law, the government launched the reform of social security institutions with the commissioning of INPS and Inail, removing the current leaders to appoint new ones. In the case of the social security institution, in fact, the president Pasquale Tridico, whose mandate would have expired on April 15, 2024, has passed away, while for that of insurance against accidents at work, the president Franco Bettoni bids farewell. The Council of Ministers also revealed that it will be abolished the figure of the vice president and a change in powers is envisaged of the president, who will propose the appointment of the general manager. The latter will remain in office for four years instead of five, in line with the other bodies. Within 10 days of the entry into force of the decree, an extraordinary commissioner will be appointed for each entity, who will have to manage the transition from one governance to another, which will make the forfeiture of presidents, vice presidents and boards of directors official. The rule will also allow Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to appoint the new top management of Rai. In fact, Roberto Sergio has been recognized as managing director.

The reactions

Tridico has already expressed his bitterness at what happened on other occasions. «It is an unmotivated and incomprehensible decision – he had told al Corriere della Sera, reached by telephone —. The institutes are commissioned for inefficiency, malfeasance, instability or a radical change. INPS closed its latest balance sheet with assets of two billion, despite the shock wave of Covid, during which the institution managed extraordinary services for 60 billion euros to 16 million citizens, in addition to 42 million of ordinary benefits. In four years we are one of the few entities that has hired: over 12,000 people. And as far as the Pnrr is concerned, we have already completed 75% of the projects». The most plausible hypothesis is that the real target of the government’s move was the opposition, which in fact reacted harshly. Stefano Patuanelli, of the 5 Star Movement, defined the decree as “a mere power operation”, while according to Antonio Misiani, of the Democratic Party, it is “a device built only to immediately get his hands on Rai, INPS and Inail. It is an indecency, a very serious and unprecedented forcing that cannot be endorsed in any way”.

Pension – result of good work

During his speech in Tagadà on La7, Tridico added that, in the current system, “retirement is a direct consequence of a good, stable job, paid with decent wages”, for young people with so many fixed-term contracts the risk is accrue “poor pensions”. He also pointed out that precariousness «is countered by prohibiting the abuse of fixed-term contracts. For example, vouchers – he said – contribute to social security with only 13%, employees with 33% ».