Armenia’s Heritage party calling for nationwide strike in protest against pension reform

YEREVAN, December 6. /ARKA/. Zaruhi Postanjyan, head of Heritage party’s faction in the Armenian National Assembly, finds it necessary to stage a nationwide strike in a protest against introduction of a mandatory accumulative pension system in the country. 

Speaking Friday at briefings in the Parliament, she said that it is necessary first of all to stage a national strike to send a signal to the ruling Republican Party of Armenia, and after that to file a complaint to the Constitutional Court. 

The Heritage was one of the parties which have come up with a proposal to postpone the introduction of the new pension system. The proposal was put up on the National Assembly’s floor on Wednesday, but voted down by the majority of the lawmakers. 

Postanjyan said that the party will continue its protest against the new system. 

Speaking about the results of the year 2013, she pointed out a high inflation rate, the fallen income of the population and the increased tax burden.  

“In this connection, I am rating the government’s work as not satisfactory,” she said adding that this shoddy work resulted in the necessity of convening an extraordinary parliamentary session on Tuesday for passing the 2014 government budget. 

The Armenian government launched pension reforms on January 1, 2011 by introducing a voluntary accumulative pension system, and on January 1, 2014, the authorities want to introduce a mandatory accumulative pension system and oblige some 250,000 people born later than January 1974 to pay 5% of their salaries every month saying that another five percent, but no more than AMD 25,000 (AMD 300,000 for entrepreneurs) will be added by the government. ($1 – AMD 409.91). ---0-----