The law on the accumulative pension system runs contrary to the Constitution of Armenia, an activity Haroutyun Aghamalyan told reporters, Saturday, November 23, 2013.
In particular, he said, the laws passed in the country must improve the social situation, while the accumulative pension system directly affects wages. In addition, the Constitution of Armenia stipulates that a citizen of Armenia is free to manage his finds, while the pension reform forces employees invest in pension funds from their wages.
As for the ongoing wave of protests against the given law, Aghamalyan said that his salary will decrease already starting Feb 2014 due to the new law. Actually, he said, 6.6%-13% and not 5% of the monthly wages will be charged, as the charges will be made from the so-called "brutto-salary." Aghamalyan said that activists have appealed to a number of oppositionist parliamentarians to dispute the law on the accumulative pension system at the Constitutional Court.
To recall, the voluntary accumulative pension system was introduced in Armenia on Jan 1 2011. The system will become compulsory starting Jan 1 2014. According to the bill, the minimal pension in the country will be equal to the minimum wage, while the basic pension will total 150% of the minimum wage. The compulsory accumulative pension system will apply to the citizens born after Jan 1 1974 (the citizens below 40). Starting Jan 1 2014, 5% of their salaries will be transferred to their personal accumulative accounts. The government will transfer a similar amount ( but no more than 25,000 drams). On 15 November the Republican Party boycotted the extraordinary meeting of the Parliament over the issue. Later on 21 November, an action of protest was held in front of the Government against the pension reform.