YEREVAN. – The authorities comment on the Constitutional Court (CC) ruling as it is convenient for them. 

Hayk Avetisyan, who is a member of the “Dem.Am [I am against]” civic initiative which opposes the mandatory component of the new pension law in Armenia, stated the aforementioned at a press conference on Thursday.

Avetisyan reflected on PM Tigran Sargsyan’s announcement that funded pension law is still in force until September 30.

“The authorities make conflicting comments. Before this decision, the authorities were convincing us how good a law this is. And after the CC decision on January 24 [when the CC had decided to suspend the execution of some components in the Law on Funded Pensions pending its hearings that ended on Wednesday], the authorities were commenting as it is convenient for them. The same goes for now, too,” he stated.

In turn, another “Dem.Am” member, Vahagn Avagyan, stressed that the government is trying to mislead the public.  
“They should have apologized at the very least, and not further strain the situation. They should pursue the correction of the law, not the making of announcements,” he added.   

The speakers informed that “Dem.Am” will issue its official position in the coming days. 

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.

The CC gave the parliament and the government 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.   

Constitutional Court Judge Feliks Tokhyan, however, stated the following in this respect: “The law on funded pensions will be in effect until September 30, and the citizens are required to continue to pay the mandatory pension payments.”
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