The Constitutional Court has adopted the decision on the accumulative pensions as directed by the authorities of Armenia and left some loopholes for the Government, Levon Zurabyan, the head of the Armenian National Congress Faction in the Parliament, told ArmInfo.
Calling it the victory of the 36 parliamentarians that appealed to the Constitutional Court and 80% of the population who were against the pension reform, Zurabyan said that the positions of the authorities have become weaker and the government and Serzh Sargsyan are reluctant to cancel the law. "Nevertheless, the verdict leaves a loophole i.e. the provisions of the law that were recognized unconstitutional will remain in force till September 30," Zurabyan said.
He said the authorities still have a theoretical chance to continue charging those 7%-13% and it theoretically may preserve the law. "The Government has suffered a severe blow, but it theoretically has a opportunity to maneuver and push through the law after the public protests calm down. Therefore, we must save our energy to use it when it is necessary to make the trial shot, to 'thumb-down' the authorities and bury what they think a pension reform. Today's retreat of the authorities can be considered one of the results of the 24-hour rallies that will start on 28 April. This attack must be continued, we must not give them even a little chance to use their fraud plans," Zurabyan said.
Constitutional Court (CC) of Armenia has cancelled the mandatory component of the accumulative pension system. Head of the Constitutional Court of Armenia Gagik Haroutiunyan read out the CC's 64-page verdict on 2 April. The Constitutional Court has adopted a decision to recognize the law null and void in the parts that infringe the citizen's right to manage his own salary. The CC has recognized invalid all the disputable articles of the law, as they are interconnected. The CC has announced 30 September the deadline for the Government and the Parliament to bring the law in line with the requirements made. The decision of the CC comes into force at the moment of announcement. The 4 non-governmental parties: Armenian National Congress, Prosperous Armenia, Heritage and ARFD, appealed to the Constitutional Court with a relevant claim over the issue.
After the Constitutional Court's verdict, Secretary of Prosperous Armenia Party Faction Naira Zohrabyan said in the CC hall that the Government is reluctant to resign. A similar though was posted on Facebook by Hrant Bagratyan, former prime minister, MP from ANC.