YEREVAN. – Members of the “Dem Em [I am against]” civic initiative, which opposes the new pension law in Armenia, are driving, with about fifty cars, around capital city Yerevan’s Republic Square, since 12:30pm on Thursday.

Using a loudspeaker, the activists are notifying the people about their large rally, which will be held at Liberty Square on Saturday (photo).

The participants in the car rally have placed flyers on their vehicles, and these flyers inform about the date, hour, and objective of Saturday’s event.

The activists’ vehicles, which are being driven around Republic Square, are causing a traffic jam, and several dozen police officers are regulating the traffic. 

At 1:30pm, the civic initiative members’ cars will head from Republic Square to Abovyan Grove.

As reported earlier, the four non-ruling-coalition parliamentary factions—i.e., the Armenian National Congress, Prosperous Armenia, ARF Dashnaktsutyun, and Heritage—will join Saturday’s rally.

The new funded pension plan, which formally came into force in Armenia on January 1, 2014, is mandatory for those born in and after 1974 and voluntary for those born before 1974. In line with this plan, 5 to 10 percent of the monthly salaries in Armenia will be deducted and mandatorily be allocated to cumulative pension funds; the latter will be reimbursed as pensions once a person turns 63 years old.      

On January 24, however, the Constitutional Court decided to suspend the execution of some components in the Law on Funded Pensions pending the hearing—on March 28—of the petition submitted by the four non-ruling-coalition parliamentary forces—the Armenian National Congress, Prosperous Armenia, ARF Dashnaktsutyun, and Heritage—, and into the constitutionality of the several articles of the law.

Notwithstanding this, some employers already are deducting the mandatory pension payment from the salaries of their employees.        

Photo by Arsen Sargsyan/NEWS.am