“I’m against”: CC decision not taken into account in drafting new bill

The grounds underlying Armenian Constitutional Court’s decision No PKS-1142 of April 2 were virtually not taken into account in drafting the new bill on accumulative pensions, ‘I am against’ civil initiative said in a statement today.

“Ignoring society’s demands, the socioeconomic situation, and the country’s interests, the Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) parliamentary faction is trying to adopt the bill on amendments to the Law on Accumulative System at the special session of the National Assembly.

The grounds underlying the Constitutional Court’s decision No PKS-1142 of April 2 were virtually not taken into account in drafting the bill on accumulative pensions, although the necessity of the mentioned bill’s adoption is conditioned by this decision. Moreover, the new bill also contains some controversial provisions.

It is noteworthy that the new draft of the law, which is of great importance to the public and earlier drew a wide response in society, was not discussed with the public. It was only published on the first day of the parliament’s special session, a number of Armenian laws were thus violated and parliamentary deputies were not allowed to familiarize themselves with the draft. Even HHK deputies were not familiar with the draft,” the statement reads.

According to ‘I am against’ initiative, virtually all the reasons that they repeatedly gave concerning the antisocial, anti-constitutional and anti-state provisions of the Law on Accumulative Pensions, which was already recognized unconstitutional and invalid, were mainly not taken into account, while controversial provisions were used in new wordings in the new draft.

“This proves once again our conviction that the aim of the Law on Accumulative Pension is not to reform the social field, but to create legal grounds for obtaining additional sums from workers,” the statement reads.