YEREVAN. – The Constitutional Court (CC) of Armenia on Friday will examine the controversial law on funded pensions, and the representatives of the four non-ruling parliamentary factions are heading to the court.
Opposition ARF Dashnaktsutyun Faction member Artsvik Minasyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am that he does not wish to talk about the expectations.
“We are going for the win,” he said.
Non-pro-government Prosperous Armenia Faction deputy Tigran Urikhanyan likewise did not wish to speak, but noted that they will make a comment once the court judgment is made.
Opposition Armenian National Congress Faction Secretary Aram Manukyan stated that nothing will take place on Friday, and that they solely will gauge the extent of the pressure on the Constitutional Court.
Opposition Heritage Party Board Vice-Chairman Armen Martirosyan said that the CC will make a political decision ordered by the authorities.
“[But] it seems they tend to take half a step back,” he added.
The “Dem Em [I am against]” civic initiative, which opposes the new pension law in Armenia, will assemble outside the Constitutional Court on Friday. The activists, however, will not participate in Heritage’s chairman, ex-presidential candidate, and former FM Raffi Hovannisian’s rally to be held on the same day.
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 Friday—of the petition submitted by the four non-ruling-coalition parliamentary forces, 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.
