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Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Nov 8 2013
What defines the image of the Armenian authorities?
8 November 2013 - 12:12pm
By Susanna Petrosyan, Yerevan. Exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza
Armenia was shocked by plans to abolish unemployment benefit on
January 1, 2014. The government wants to replace the benefits with
re-training as new specialists, as stated in the first reading of the
employment law. According to Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, the
system of unemployment benefits worth 18,000 drams is inefficient for
a poor country, so funds of the budget of 2014 will instead be spent
on the creation of new jobs.
`94% of funds granted by the system could not reach their addressees,
i.e. the people in need of jobs,' said the prime minister. Then who
stopped the authorities from making the money reach the addresses? It
appears that the lion's share of the funds was given to people
tricking the government and gaining unemployment status via falsified
documents and corruption schemes, in other words, committing crimes.
Experts say that the government deprives people of food, and plans to
re-train them without caring to give a job. Artsvik Minasyan, a member
of the Dashnaktsutyun Party, believes that it is a harsh and pointless
initiative that undermines the ideology of a social state. `The
Constitution of Armenia protects a citizen from the seven basic social
risks: disability, unemployment, etc. The government is in fact
blatantly violating the Constitution, by taking this step,' supposes
the Dashnaktsutyun member.
It seemed that, judging by the government's step, the country became
poorer and had to abolish the unemployment benefit. But this appears
to go off-key with the upcoming increase of salaries of high-ranking
functionaries and MPs, as it can be seen in the bill on salaries of
functionaries. The bill has also been recently passed in the first
reading.
According to the budget, the basic salary cannot be 80% lower than the
minimal wage of 120% higher. It totals 45,000 drams or about $110 at
the moment. Salaries of functionaries will be determined by
multiplying the basic wage by the quotient set for them. The highest
quotient totals 20. The government plans to increase the salary of
President Serzh Sargsyan from 436,000 drams to 1,322,000 drams, the
salary of Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan and Speaker of Parliament
Ovik Abramyan from 373,000 drams to 1,190,000 drams ($1 = 405 drams).
The poverty level in the country is excessive. The official data says
that 19% of the unemployed belong to the category of the poor.
Migration from Armenia continues. Over 35% of the economy is illegal.
In this context, the motivation to give functionaries higher salaries
seems very unconvincing. Explanations that higher wages would
encourage reduction of corruption seem unjustified as well. It is
clear that corruption control is a process organized systematically in
various fields. Solely raising the salaries is not a solution to the
problem. A few years ago, salaries of judges grew to $1,500-2,000,
yet, the field remains one of the most corrupted ones in Armenia.
Galist Saakyan, Vice Chairman of the Republican Party and head of its
fraction in Armenia, gave the most `reasonable' explanation to why
higher salaries of functionaries was a matter of dignity and image of
the government. Maybe the philosophy of the ruling elite cannot digest
the fact that the growing number of emigrants, the poor and dropping
economic growth rate is what ruins the country's image. Nonetheless,
the rusing salaries of high-ranking functionaries and abolishment of
unemployment benefits prove the philosophy which bases on the formula
`I am the power! I do what I want.'
http://vestnikkavkaza.net/articles/politics/47354.html
Nov 8 2013
What defines the image of the Armenian authorities?
8 November 2013 - 12:12pm
By Susanna Petrosyan, Yerevan. Exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza
Armenia was shocked by plans to abolish unemployment benefit on
January 1, 2014. The government wants to replace the benefits with
re-training as new specialists, as stated in the first reading of the
employment law. According to Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, the
system of unemployment benefits worth 18,000 drams is inefficient for
a poor country, so funds of the budget of 2014 will instead be spent
on the creation of new jobs.
`94% of funds granted by the system could not reach their addressees,
i.e. the people in need of jobs,' said the prime minister. Then who
stopped the authorities from making the money reach the addresses? It
appears that the lion's share of the funds was given to people
tricking the government and gaining unemployment status via falsified
documents and corruption schemes, in other words, committing crimes.
Experts say that the government deprives people of food, and plans to
re-train them without caring to give a job. Artsvik Minasyan, a member
of the Dashnaktsutyun Party, believes that it is a harsh and pointless
initiative that undermines the ideology of a social state. `The
Constitution of Armenia protects a citizen from the seven basic social
risks: disability, unemployment, etc. The government is in fact
blatantly violating the Constitution, by taking this step,' supposes
the Dashnaktsutyun member.
It seemed that, judging by the government's step, the country became
poorer and had to abolish the unemployment benefit. But this appears
to go off-key with the upcoming increase of salaries of high-ranking
functionaries and MPs, as it can be seen in the bill on salaries of
functionaries. The bill has also been recently passed in the first
reading.
According to the budget, the basic salary cannot be 80% lower than the
minimal wage of 120% higher. It totals 45,000 drams or about $110 at
the moment. Salaries of functionaries will be determined by
multiplying the basic wage by the quotient set for them. The highest
quotient totals 20. The government plans to increase the salary of
President Serzh Sargsyan from 436,000 drams to 1,322,000 drams, the
salary of Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan and Speaker of Parliament
Ovik Abramyan from 373,000 drams to 1,190,000 drams ($1 = 405 drams).
The poverty level in the country is excessive. The official data says
that 19% of the unemployed belong to the category of the poor.
Migration from Armenia continues. Over 35% of the economy is illegal.
In this context, the motivation to give functionaries higher salaries
seems very unconvincing. Explanations that higher wages would
encourage reduction of corruption seem unjustified as well. It is
clear that corruption control is a process organized systematically in
various fields. Solely raising the salaries is not a solution to the
problem. A few years ago, salaries of judges grew to $1,500-2,000,
yet, the field remains one of the most corrupted ones in Armenia.
Galist Saakyan, Vice Chairman of the Republican Party and head of its
fraction in Armenia, gave the most `reasonable' explanation to why
higher salaries of functionaries was a matter of dignity and image of
the government. Maybe the philosophy of the ruling elite cannot digest
the fact that the growing number of emigrants, the poor and dropping
economic growth rate is what ruins the country's image. Nonetheless,
the rusing salaries of high-ranking functionaries and abolishment of
unemployment benefits prove the philosophy which bases on the formula
`I am the power! I do what I want.'
http://vestnikkavkaza.net/articles/politics/47354.html