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PENSION REFORMS: ARMENIAN CIVIC GROUP TO RALLY WITH PARLIAMENTARY OPPOSITION, AS CC PREPARES FOR NEW HEARING
11:14 * 24.02.14
While the Constitutional is preparing to hold a new hearing next month
to consider the disputed provisions of the pension law, the civic
group protesting against the reforms is planning to organize a new
rally in Yerevan together with members of the parliamentary opposition.
The activists of the group I am Against! will conduct the public
event on March 22 in an effort to urge the Constitutional Court to
demonstrate respect for the Armenian citizens' rights.
"We have a clearly outlined issue on the agenda, and our campaign is
against a concrete problem. Any [political] force which is fighting
with us can be together with us on the same platform. We have never
been against their participation and will never be. We are jointly
fighting against the law," Gevorg Gorgisyan, a member of the group,
told Tert.am.
The activist said he thinks that several forces' presence at the
public event would play a kind of a strait jacket role.
"Even if someone tries to pursue his own policy line, the rest will
stand against it; so we have don't have anything to do here. That's
becomes a kind of their own problem, not ours. They are collaborating
with us as a united common force," he said.
The amended pension law, which went into effect on January 1, requires
that all the employed Armenian citizens born after 1973 pay 5%-10%
salary taxes to the pension funds to secure their future retirement
benefits. The measure met strong protests by the society, with many
expressing distrust in the system. On January 24, the Constitutional
Court issued a ruling to temporarily suspend the mandatory component of
the law. But despite the measure, many employers made the deductions,
thus fuelling more heated tensions in the society.
The Constitutional Court's new hearing is due on March 28.
The activist said he expects the upcoming rally to be more crowded
than the previous event, adding that many have already experienced
the dire impact of the law.
"The employees of the Electric Networks, for example, said they hadn't
joined [the rally] last time as they naively believed all this wasn't
going to apply to them. I know lots and lots of teachers, students
and university professors who weren't present because they were afraid.
But now, their patience has worn thin, with fury overcoming fear. This
is pickpocketing and extortion, which is criminally punishable,"
he added.
Armenian News - Tert.am
11:14 * 24.02.14
While the Constitutional is preparing to hold a new hearing next month
to consider the disputed provisions of the pension law, the civic
group protesting against the reforms is planning to organize a new
rally in Yerevan together with members of the parliamentary opposition.
The activists of the group I am Against! will conduct the public
event on March 22 in an effort to urge the Constitutional Court to
demonstrate respect for the Armenian citizens' rights.
"We have a clearly outlined issue on the agenda, and our campaign is
against a concrete problem. Any [political] force which is fighting
with us can be together with us on the same platform. We have never
been against their participation and will never be. We are jointly
fighting against the law," Gevorg Gorgisyan, a member of the group,
told Tert.am.
The activist said he thinks that several forces' presence at the
public event would play a kind of a strait jacket role.
"Even if someone tries to pursue his own policy line, the rest will
stand against it; so we have don't have anything to do here. That's
becomes a kind of their own problem, not ours. They are collaborating
with us as a united common force," he said.
The amended pension law, which went into effect on January 1, requires
that all the employed Armenian citizens born after 1973 pay 5%-10%
salary taxes to the pension funds to secure their future retirement
benefits. The measure met strong protests by the society, with many
expressing distrust in the system. On January 24, the Constitutional
Court issued a ruling to temporarily suspend the mandatory component of
the law. But despite the measure, many employers made the deductions,
thus fuelling more heated tensions in the society.
The Constitutional Court's new hearing is due on March 28.
The activist said he expects the upcoming rally to be more crowded
than the previous event, adding that many have already experienced
the dire impact of the law.
"The employees of the Electric Networks, for example, said they hadn't
joined [the rally] last time as they naively believed all this wasn't
going to apply to them. I know lots and lots of teachers, students
and university professors who weren't present because they were afraid.
But now, their patience has worn thin, with fury overcoming fear. This
is pickpocketing and extortion, which is criminally punishable,"
he added.
Armenian News - Tert.am