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ARMENIA: STATE RACKETEERING
Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Jan 20 2014
20 January 2014 - 3:04pm
By Susanna Petrosyan, Yerevan. Exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza
Armenian opposition parties Dashnaktsutyun, Armenian National
Congress, Prosperous Armenia and the Heritage and the 'I am Against'
civil initiative and young organizations started protests and marches
against the accumulative pensions on January 18. About 6,000 people
took part in the demonstration, police say.
The protesters demanded the Constitutional Court resist political
pressure and make a decision that would favour the population, not
interests of the ruling regime. On December 17, the four parties
addressed the court concerning the pension law. They also requested
obligatory contributions to pension funds to be stopped until the
publication of the court's decision.
The complainants are confident that the new law violates article 117
of the Constitution. The article states that volume of social support
the government gives it people cannot be reduced on its own accords.
Artsvik Minasyan of Dashnaktsutyun said that the funds that will be
accumulated by pension funds will be partly allocated for circulation
on foreign markets. Such economic step is very risky because the
pension system would become dependent on foreign markets and any
crisis would pulverize the money instantly.
The Constitutional Court will consider the request to scrap the
law on January 25 and the complaint of the four fractions on March
28. Taking into account that the case provoked a mass public outrage,
the Constitutional Court ordered hearings to be organized in an
oral procedure.
Organizers of the protests confirmed commitment against the new
pension system initiated only for the sake the government that seeks
additional financial resources. Naira Zograbyan, Secretary of the
prosperous Armenia Party, called the law on accumulative pensions
state racketeering.
According to Levon Zurabyan, leader of the Armenian National Congress,
the new law is not a reform, it is a robbery. "In the US and Europe,
there are financial institutions and pension funds that gained the
trust of citizens through many years of honest work. Can we trust
the kleptocratic regime headed by two Sargsyans?" wonders Zurabyan.
The protests were concluded by a big march. It was the first political
event this year and since autumn 2013. It became a reflection of
the social grievance, on the other hand, it was a platform for a
higher-level consolidation of political oppositionist forces and
formation of a form of resistance together with the public.
A combination of a political and a civil struggle was seen at a march
organized by the Armenian National Congress on December 10, the Human
Rights Day. Another one was organized by parliamentary opposition
and civil activists to protest against the unconstitutional law on
accumulative pensions.
In other words, the law did not just become a factor for consolidation
of opposition and civil initiatives into a form of struggle. It became
a real opportunity to fight against adoption of the accumulative
system into a political process.
http://vestnikkavkaza.net/articles/politics/50096.html
Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Jan 20 2014
20 January 2014 - 3:04pm
By Susanna Petrosyan, Yerevan. Exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza
Armenian opposition parties Dashnaktsutyun, Armenian National
Congress, Prosperous Armenia and the Heritage and the 'I am Against'
civil initiative and young organizations started protests and marches
against the accumulative pensions on January 18. About 6,000 people
took part in the demonstration, police say.
The protesters demanded the Constitutional Court resist political
pressure and make a decision that would favour the population, not
interests of the ruling regime. On December 17, the four parties
addressed the court concerning the pension law. They also requested
obligatory contributions to pension funds to be stopped until the
publication of the court's decision.
The complainants are confident that the new law violates article 117
of the Constitution. The article states that volume of social support
the government gives it people cannot be reduced on its own accords.
Artsvik Minasyan of Dashnaktsutyun said that the funds that will be
accumulated by pension funds will be partly allocated for circulation
on foreign markets. Such economic step is very risky because the
pension system would become dependent on foreign markets and any
crisis would pulverize the money instantly.
The Constitutional Court will consider the request to scrap the
law on January 25 and the complaint of the four fractions on March
28. Taking into account that the case provoked a mass public outrage,
the Constitutional Court ordered hearings to be organized in an
oral procedure.
Organizers of the protests confirmed commitment against the new
pension system initiated only for the sake the government that seeks
additional financial resources. Naira Zograbyan, Secretary of the
prosperous Armenia Party, called the law on accumulative pensions
state racketeering.
According to Levon Zurabyan, leader of the Armenian National Congress,
the new law is not a reform, it is a robbery. "In the US and Europe,
there are financial institutions and pension funds that gained the
trust of citizens through many years of honest work. Can we trust
the kleptocratic regime headed by two Sargsyans?" wonders Zurabyan.
The protests were concluded by a big march. It was the first political
event this year and since autumn 2013. It became a reflection of
the social grievance, on the other hand, it was a platform for a
higher-level consolidation of political oppositionist forces and
formation of a form of resistance together with the public.
A combination of a political and a civil struggle was seen at a march
organized by the Armenian National Congress on December 10, the Human
Rights Day. Another one was organized by parliamentary opposition
and civil activists to protest against the unconstitutional law on
accumulative pensions.
In other words, the law did not just become a factor for consolidation
of opposition and civil initiatives into a form of struggle. It became
a real opportunity to fight against adoption of the accumulative
system into a political process.
http://vestnikkavkaza.net/articles/politics/50096.html