Armenian authorities had no time to think of the pensions of villagers and migrant workers before introducing the mandatory accumulative pension system. The statement came from a parliamentarian, a member of the Republican Party of Armenia, head of the Parliament Committee for Finance and Budget Affairs, Gagik Minasyan.
According to him, the given omission is the defect of the pension reform, however, the issue of villagers and migrant workers will be settled in the succession of time. Minasyan is sure that the members of "I'm Against!" movement do not think of the future of the country and the old people.
"They declare themselves the owners of the country, but they forget about the responsibilities of the true owners of the country to the future generations," Minasyan said. He thinks the wave of public protests against the pension reform result from the shortsightedness of the citizens.
People will be marching against the Mandatory Accumulative Pension System in Armenia on 21 February. In a relevant group on Facebook the organizers urge people to go to streets with electric torchlights at 6:30pm Yerevan time on 21 February. The action will start from the Institute of Ancient Manuscripts Matenadaran. The torchlights will be symbolizing the right path for the citizens having no strict position on the pension reform.
To recall, the voluntary accumulative pension system was introduced in Armenia on Jan 1 2011. The system became compulsory starting Jan 1 2014, which sparked public outrage. Armenian Constitutional Court's decision of January 24 suspended some provisions of the Law on the Accumulative Pension until the Court considers its constitutionality on Mar 28 2014.