YEREVAN. – The “Dem.Am [I am against]” civic initiative, which opposes the mandatory component of the new funded pension law in Armenia, is not in a hurry to rejoice over PM Hovik Abrahamyan’s announcement on Wednesday that, at this point, the pension reforms’ mandatory component is de facto suspended. “Dem.Am” member Gevorg Gorgisyan told the above-said to Armenian News-NEWS.am.

“Considering our bitter experience, we are not in a hurry to rejoice. When it is clearly told that the ‘mandatory’ component is removed, then we will rejoice and announce our triumph,” Gorgisyan noted.

At any rate, the initiative probably will gather outside the National Assembly, on April 28, where the government’s bill, and concerning the new law on funded pensions, will be discussed.

On April 18, the “Dem.Am” civic initiative members assembled outside the Presidential Palace, to demand from the President to carry out the CC’s April 2 ruling. Subsequently, newly appointed PM Hovik Abrahamyan came to speak with the activists, and he pledged to make a decision that will be to the people’s liking. In addition, the PM proposed to discuss, with a ten-member delegation, the pension issue, but the initiative members refused.  

On Tuesday, Abrahamyan discussed the funded pension law with five of the National Assembly’s six factions. The opposition Armenian National Congress had refused to take part in the meeting.

On April 2, the Constitutional Court (CC) of Armenia declared unconstitutional a whole series of articles in the new Law on Funded Pensions. Despite this ruling, however, the state-run financial institutions still obliged the employers to make mandatory funded pension cuts from the salaries of their employees. The respective reasoning was that the CC gave the parliament and the government until September 30 to amend the aforesaid law’s provisions that were deemed unconstitutional.