YEREVAN. – Despite being juridical, the Constitutional Court (CC) ruling has a broad political context, too.
Opposition Armenian National Congress bloc National Assembly (ANC NA) Faction Secretary Aram Manukyan stated the abovementioned in connection with the CC judgment on Wednesday.
“We are speaking about this decision by the CC already for four months, and today [CC President] Gagik Harutyunyan literally repeated our words, [and] recorded all the violations,” the MP said.
The ANC NA Faction Secretary noted that this judgment by the CC was a result of the pressures by the four non-ruling-coalition parliamentary forces and the “Dem.Am” civic initiative plus their decision to stage 24-hour rallies from April 28 to 30.
“All these became the basis for Gagik Harutyunyan to reach such a verdict. Had it not been for the petition of us four, [and] the youth activeness, the CC would not have made such a decision,” Manukyan stated.
The CC on Wednesday deemed unconstitutional a whole series of articles in the new Law On Funded Pensions, which were contested with a lawsuit by the four non-ruling-coalition parliamentary factions’ MPs. Specifically, the mandatory component of this law was invalidated.
The CC, however, gave the parliament and the government time until September 30 to amend the aforesaid law’s provisions that were considered unconstitutional. In addition, all the mandatory pension deductions which already were made shall be reviewed.
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 its hearings, which commenced on March 28. Notwithstanding this, some employers already were deducting the mandatory pension payment from the salaries of their employees.
The law caused dissatisfaction among Armenia’s civil society, and therefore paved the way for the establishment of the “Dem.Am [I am against]” civic initiative, which opposes the mandatory component of the new pension law in Armenia.
The four non-ruling-coalition parliamentary factions—i.e., the Armenian National Congress, Prosperous Armenia, ARF Dashnaktsutyun, and Heritage—likewise are against this new law, and they declare that its mandatory component is unconstitutional.
