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QUESTIONS ADDRESSED TO SERGE SARKISIAN
By H.Avedikian, Translated by L.H.
AZG Armenian Daily #164
11/09/2007
Local
Our people do not like speeches, reports and is sick and tired of
measured and cut out announcements.
Nevertheless, our people like and appreciate live, innocent and
frank conversations. Being mistrustful by origin our fellow-citizen
does not want to be deceived again, and prefers direct contacts with
responsible state officials in order to come to a right conclusion. He
doesn't want to hear promises, as he has heard those kind of promises
during the last elections.
Either the post of the Prime Minister or the logic of the inflexible
steps to the presidential chair makes Serge Sarkisian to have more
contacts with the people.
However, those contacts are not enough and have an episodic nature.
I think that it's necessary for the PM to have wider, more frequent
and direct contacts with different strata of our society and not to
avoid from even the sharpest questions not only to listen to but also
to answer them.
First, I want the Prime Minster to answer the following question: Is
he really conversant with the prevailing situation in the country,
the concerns of the citizens and also various problems that are
available today? Does he have a control over the situation or do the
local "lords" deceive him? Does he know how and when to solve the
raised problems?
The Prime Minister says that Armenia should not have poor and needy
people and all the people must be employed. Aren't these only best
wishes? The situation in the employment market, besides spheres of
high technologies and construction, proves the opposite.
Especially the situation in the provinces and the secondary towns of
Armenia the unemployment situation sometimes is even disappointed. Who,
when and how will provide working places and just salaries for
the people?
It's not once that the PM raises issues of the proportionate
development in the country. But this kind of development needs big
investments. It was planned to give 10 billion AMD to the provinces
during the last government sitting, but even with the international
credits, grants, various other aids it seems to me very unsatisfactory,
and I think that we need big financial means to record progress in
this sphere. Some of the provinces are so incomplete-developed,
and the substructures - gone out of order, that they remind me a
dish full of holes - you pour in, but nothing remains. Of course,
the local "rulers" factor also plays a big role here. Besides, even
the developed substructure cannot provide people with the working
places, if there are no private investments there. Is it right to
rely on the "effectiveness of the budget means' distribution" under
these circumstances?
Should we abandon Yerevan with its various problems (with its
mixed buildings and dangerous accumulations, with the problems of
transport, ecology, substructures, etc) that is an obstacle in the
general development? Without regulating that question how the PM and
his government think to solve more difficult issues of the country's
"general development"?
Does the Prime Minister know that our institutions of local government
have become the closest institutions?
However, people are more interested in the activities of the latter:
transport and streets, rubbish disposing, sewerage system, water
supply, electricity, schools, kindergartens, etc. The press cannot
penetrate into the activities of the local governance.
Moreover, in these conditions to speak about the steps parallel with
the international development seems a dream. Does the Prime Minister,
the presidential candidate Serge Sarkisian have enough political will
to turn that dream into reality?
Moreover, the government recently announced about the increase of
the pensions by 60% from January 1, 2008.
But it was not enough for the PM and he assigned a task to the Minister
of Finance and Economy to find new additional means in the state
budget of 2008 in order to make the pensions higher than 20.000 AMD.
Of course, this is a hopeful step, though it seems populism from the
first glance. Where will the Minister of Finance and Economy find
those additional means? Are those means new or are they going to be
discovered newly?
It seems that our oligarchs will eventually become honest taxpayers
in the coming few months. In that case, it will be a systemic change.
It's worth to mention that common people are not interested in the
valuation of the Armenian dram, or the high indexes of the economic
growth, etc.
Common people have their own standards - it's the content of their
pockets, which is not even enough to live properly. Yes, the AMD is
evaluated in comparison with USD, but not - with the commodity.
Moreover, what does the Prime Minister think about the youth issues
on formation of new families, when the prices of the apartments and
the credits in Armenia, especially in Yerevan, are not available for
the newly-formed families.
The "Elite" buildings and apartments cannot solve the above-mentioned
problems
Yes, there are many problems and they wait for their solutions. Not
immediate, as those are not fast solvable problems. However, our
society has a right to hear a clear and honest conversation of the
responsible officials about the ways and measures of those solutions.
By H.Avedikian, Translated by L.H.
AZG Armenian Daily #164
11/09/2007
Local
Our people do not like speeches, reports and is sick and tired of
measured and cut out announcements.
Nevertheless, our people like and appreciate live, innocent and
frank conversations. Being mistrustful by origin our fellow-citizen
does not want to be deceived again, and prefers direct contacts with
responsible state officials in order to come to a right conclusion. He
doesn't want to hear promises, as he has heard those kind of promises
during the last elections.
Either the post of the Prime Minister or the logic of the inflexible
steps to the presidential chair makes Serge Sarkisian to have more
contacts with the people.
However, those contacts are not enough and have an episodic nature.
I think that it's necessary for the PM to have wider, more frequent
and direct contacts with different strata of our society and not to
avoid from even the sharpest questions not only to listen to but also
to answer them.
First, I want the Prime Minster to answer the following question: Is
he really conversant with the prevailing situation in the country,
the concerns of the citizens and also various problems that are
available today? Does he have a control over the situation or do the
local "lords" deceive him? Does he know how and when to solve the
raised problems?
The Prime Minister says that Armenia should not have poor and needy
people and all the people must be employed. Aren't these only best
wishes? The situation in the employment market, besides spheres of
high technologies and construction, proves the opposite.
Especially the situation in the provinces and the secondary towns of
Armenia the unemployment situation sometimes is even disappointed. Who,
when and how will provide working places and just salaries for
the people?
It's not once that the PM raises issues of the proportionate
development in the country. But this kind of development needs big
investments. It was planned to give 10 billion AMD to the provinces
during the last government sitting, but even with the international
credits, grants, various other aids it seems to me very unsatisfactory,
and I think that we need big financial means to record progress in
this sphere. Some of the provinces are so incomplete-developed,
and the substructures - gone out of order, that they remind me a
dish full of holes - you pour in, but nothing remains. Of course,
the local "rulers" factor also plays a big role here. Besides, even
the developed substructure cannot provide people with the working
places, if there are no private investments there. Is it right to
rely on the "effectiveness of the budget means' distribution" under
these circumstances?
Should we abandon Yerevan with its various problems (with its
mixed buildings and dangerous accumulations, with the problems of
transport, ecology, substructures, etc) that is an obstacle in the
general development? Without regulating that question how the PM and
his government think to solve more difficult issues of the country's
"general development"?
Does the Prime Minister know that our institutions of local government
have become the closest institutions?
However, people are more interested in the activities of the latter:
transport and streets, rubbish disposing, sewerage system, water
supply, electricity, schools, kindergartens, etc. The press cannot
penetrate into the activities of the local governance.
Moreover, in these conditions to speak about the steps parallel with
the international development seems a dream. Does the Prime Minister,
the presidential candidate Serge Sarkisian have enough political will
to turn that dream into reality?
Moreover, the government recently announced about the increase of
the pensions by 60% from January 1, 2008.
But it was not enough for the PM and he assigned a task to the Minister
of Finance and Economy to find new additional means in the state
budget of 2008 in order to make the pensions higher than 20.000 AMD.
Of course, this is a hopeful step, though it seems populism from the
first glance. Where will the Minister of Finance and Economy find
those additional means? Are those means new or are they going to be
discovered newly?
It seems that our oligarchs will eventually become honest taxpayers
in the coming few months. In that case, it will be a systemic change.
It's worth to mention that common people are not interested in the
valuation of the Armenian dram, or the high indexes of the economic
growth, etc.
Common people have their own standards - it's the content of their
pockets, which is not even enough to live properly. Yes, the AMD is
evaluated in comparison with USD, but not - with the commodity.
Moreover, what does the Prime Minister think about the youth issues
on formation of new families, when the prices of the apartments and
the credits in Armenia, especially in Yerevan, are not available for
the newly-formed families.
The "Elite" buildings and apartments cannot solve the above-mentioned
problems
Yes, there are many problems and they wait for their solutions. Not
immediate, as those are not fast solvable problems. However, our
society has a right to hear a clear and honest conversation of the
responsible officials about the ways and measures of those solutions.