YEREVAN. – Ruling Republican Party MP Hakob Hakobyan, who is also Chairman of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Social Affairs, is convinced that demanding the government’s resignation following the Constitutional Court (CC) verdict on Wednesday is the society’s problem, whereas the parliamentary majority solely will draw conclusions from this demand.

Hakobyan stated the aforesaid after the CC ruling on the pension reforms, as he responded, outside the CC, to the reporters’ query as to when the government might resign.

“Ask the government for the government’s resignation,” he also noted.

Commenting on the CC decision, Hakobyan stated that he will continue to defend the concept of funded pensions.   
“There are so many flawed things in our legal domain; [and] the causes are complex. Besides, the articles in the law are unconstitutional; the law is not unconstitutional,” Hakob Hakobyan said.

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.   

Separately, the four non-ruling-coalition parliamentary factions will table a motion of no confidence to the government at the next parliament session, which will get underway on April 28. In addition, these forces are preparing to stage 24-hour rallies from April 28 to 30 at Liberty Square in capital city Yerevan.