29/11/2019 17:03
Bill on paying 10 million AMD and serving one month not viable, will not be brought into life: military expert
Military expert Davit Harutyunov in an interview with Aysor.am referred to the amendments offered by My Step faction lawmaker Hayk Sargsyan which intend changes in the laws about mandatory military service. In particular the lawmaker offered to pay 10 million AMD and serve for one month. He said the bill targets mainly citizens of Armenia who avoid mandatory military service.
“This bill attempts to unite several causes. One of them is for the young people not to avoid military service and secondly, an attempt is being made to apply reservist service. The expedited order supposes that after one month of service the soldiers will show up at mobilizations. Here we are speaking about creation of professional army and there is the factor of Diaspora as well,” the expert said, adding that the transition to reservist and professional army supposes serious reconstructions in the armed forces.
He added that to implement it in one bill will be either impossible or very difficult.
“There are few reasons why the reservist service and professional army are not succeeded in Armenia. One bill will not solve the issue,” he said.
“I am not a lawyer but I think the bill contradicts the Constitution regarding the rights of citizens and their commitments. In fact it is being spoken of having two types of citizens in Armenia – those who may avoid commitments by paying money and those who must implement their commitments because they do not have money. This will have negative consequences and will accentuate the existing polarization in the society,” the expert stressed.
Harutyunov also stressed that one month is very short period for becoming a serviceman, adding that at least half a year is necessary to prepare them.
“They say let them serve for a month and then show up at mobilizations, but the problem is that reservist system works in countries having serious human resources, or in those which do not face serious dangers from outside and it is not a principle issue for them,” the expert stressed, adding that unlike other countries Armenia faces serious danger from outside, has limited human resources and lacks technical and intelligence privileges.
Asked about the organization of mobilization in conditions of having such law, the expert said that logically the law says that in military conditions these people must show up in case of mobilization and serve.
“This is one of the flaws of the law as it does not register how they will regulate their presence during mobilization in war conditions. It is not clear how it will happen and this is a serious problem,” he said, adding that in such case the whole mobilization system of the armed forces must be reconstructed which is impossible to do with just one bill.
“In general, it is not viable bill from the point of view of bringing it to life. Perhaps, it seems it refers to a local problem, but in reality this local problem turns into a global one from the viewpoint of inner structure of the army and the system of military service,” the expert stressed.