‘If pension problem not solved, it will be politicized’

The impression about the accumulative pension system’s introduction is that while not seeing the opposition in Armenia, some external forces are using their influence in state bodies, Chairman of the Union of IT Enterprises (UITE) Karen Vardanian said at a press conference today.

“We witness people taking to the streets because of the unreasonable behavior of state bodies. Thank God the members of Dem.am movement stay within the scope of their demands and insist on solution of only their problem. I would propose that the president directly negotiate with those young people - it would show if he is concerned about the future of our citizens or not,’” Vardanian noted.

Another participant of the press conference – political engineer Vigen Hakobian said that the government is trying to gain time. He considered that step senseless, noting that if the problem is not solved now, it will be politicized.

The pension reforms started with the use of the voluntary component of the accumulative pension system on January 1, 2011.
The opposition factions of the parliament intended to convene a special session on November 15 of last year to discuss the postponement of the compulsory component from January 1, 2014 to January 1, 2015. The session did not take place as HHK and OEK factions did not attend it.

On January 24, 2014, the Constitutional Court of Armenia suspended Article 76 and Article 86 part 3 of the Law on Accumulative Pensions pending a decision on the constitutionality of the law’s Articles 5,7,8, 37,38,45,49, and 86. Yet I’m against (Dem.am) initiative struggling against the accumulative pension scheme has received many complaints about employers making deductions from their employees’ salaries.

Employees of several organizations and companies have recently held protests demanding the implementation of the Constitutional Court’s decision.