It’s a shame to apply unconstitutional provisions of pension law –
Armenian civic group on pension reform
14:29 * 05.04.14
The activists of I am Against!, the civic group conducting an active
campaign against the pension reforms, held on Saturday a press
conference to address the Constitutional Court’s recent ruling and the
subsequent interpretations.
They were particularly angered by the authorities’ decision to leave
the legislative provisions declared unconstitutional in effect until
September 30.
“The CC has made its opinion public; that was what we had applied for,
so we treat it positively,” said an activist of the group, David
Manukyan, adding that the September 30 deadline should have been
perceived as just an opportunity to amend the law, not just a period
allowing some to keep charging salary taxes.
David Davtyan, another member of the group, said they do not find the
Constitutional Court an exhaustive instance. “The CC actually
reaffirmed our legal allegation, declaring several provisions of the
law unconstitutional, but no social solution was offered. So we must
reach a solution through a struggle,” he said.
The law “On Funded Pensions”, which went into effect on January 1,
required that all the employed Armenian citizens born after 1973 make
contributions to the pension funds in the amount of 5%-10% of their
salaries. After strong civic protests and appeals by the parliamentary
opposition, the Constitutional Court declared suspended the mandatory
component of the law. In a ruling issued on Wednesday it declared the
disputed provisions unconstitutional.
Addressing the topic, Hakob Arshakyan, another activist of I am
Against!, said he doesn’t think the funded pension system is of any
interest to the society given that only three percent of the employed
population have chosen funds to secure their future retirement
benefits.
“So that means that it is necessary to urgently annul the law, recall
just tomorrow, return everybody their sums and make a rapid switchover
to the previous system. It isn’t difficult, as the previous system was
a functioning one,” he noted.
Addressing possible challenges, the activist said he expects the
system to enable companies to resisters or re-register their
businesses in other states.
“As a result of such ambiguous interpretations, they may re-register
their companies in neighboring states, taking into consideration the
mild taxation policies and the higher degree of trust in the
government,” he said, expressing concerns over possible investment
cuts.
“If they ask for an opinion about the administration system here, it
will definitely be negative,” he noted.
The activists added that the authorities should have been responsible
enough to conduct an expert examination before adopting the law. They
stressed the importance of continuing the campaign, calling upon every
member of the society to apply to the competent bodies to prevent
employers from choosing pension funds instead of them. They said the
application forms have been posted on the group’s website to
facilitate further procedures.
They further called upon the society to attend their next rally on April 12.
http://www.tert.am/en/news/2014/04/05/dem-am8/