A mere 27 years old, former Ålandic member of parliament Axel Jonsson has set a new world record in being the youngest person in history to retire of old age. By taking advantage of a loophole in local legislation, Jonsson together with a dozen fellow former MPs and ministers were granted premature old age retirements – at the expense of Åland taxpayers.
Jonsson’s political carrier came to an end last year when he resigned from his post as chairman of the ”Åland’s Future” party, to instead concentrate on his studies. The loophole in legislation has since been closed and PMs who are serving their first terms from 2015 and forward can no longer utilize premature old age retirement, instead they have to settle for a time limited ”adjustment allowance”.
Among Jonsson, ten other former PMs hade demanded and been granted premature old age retirement. These are Viveka Eriksson (L), 63, Gun-Mari Lindholm (M), 57, Britt Lundberg (C), 56, Carina Aaltonen (S), 55, Roger Eriksson (L), 59, Igge Holmberg (S), 53, Sara Kemetter (S), 44, former minister of finance Mats Perämaa (L), 55 and former minister of IT Tony Asumaa (L), 51.
Former PM Petri Carlsson (M), was also granted premature old age retirement, but has now returned to the workforce, according to the local government pension administrator.