Thursday, August 26 2021 13:33

ArmInfo. On August 26 the National Assembly adopted the program of the Government of Armenia.

 

70 lawmakers voted "for" the adoption of the program, no one voted "against" or "abstained". Opposition factions - "Hayastan" and "I Have the Honor" did not take part in the voting, leaving the meeting room.  To recall, on August 18, the government approved its program of activities for the next 5 years, in which it fixed a number of goals. The program consists of 6 sections: security and foreign policy, economics, infrastructure development, human capital development, law and justice, institutional development.  According to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, the main political message of the newly formed government is recorded in the preface to the program, according to which the program of the Government of the Republic of Armenia is based on the electoral program of the Civil Contract party in the parliamentary elections on June 20, 2021, the obligations undertaken before the citizens of Armenia during the election campaign, and the promises they made during the campaign, as well as the Strategy for the Transformation of Armenia until 2050.

 

Security and foreign policy

 

The Prime Minister explained that according to the program, the main factors for ensuring the security of the Republic of Armenia are the modernization of the Armenian army, the Armenian-Russian strategic alliance, Armenia's membership in the CSTO, the formation of a stable regional environment and the unblocking of regional infrastructures, the OSCE MG co-chairmanship, an initiative-effective foreign policy in all directions, a sustainable system of national security bodies, the fight against terrorism and other violent manifestations of extremism, the supremacy of law, increasing resilience to disasters, as well as economic development and social stability.

 

Thus, according to the program, reforms in the country's Armed Forces have started and are being implemented at a high pace. The RA will gradually shift to a professional army. The structure of urgent military service and training camps will change significantly. "We also consider it important to modernize the army, introduce an automated control system, increase the attractiveness of military service through a new policy of salaries and social guarantees, as well as improve the quality of military training and more extensive involvement of women in combat units of the Armed Forces," Pashinyan said, presenting the program on August 24. ... He emphasized that the thesis about the involvement of women is due to an exclusively pragmatic calculation: women make up the majority of the population of Armenia and insufficient involvement of this resource in any sector means a distortion of the country's development potential.  According to him, this does not mean that women should be drawn into the army on an equal basis with men. "We are talking about the potential, its maximum full-fledged use, this potential still needs to be unlocked," he said.

 

The prime minister said that in the process of reforming and modernizing the Army, Armenia attaches importance to cooperation with its strategic ally Russia. "In this regard, we already have specific agreements with Russia," he said.

 

According to the program, the National Security Service (NSS) should become a counterintelligence body.  The border troops will continue to function as part of the NSS, and the fight against terrorism and extremism, as well as the protection of the constitutional order, will remain in the NSS's area of responsibility. A number of functional duties entrusted to the NSS today will be changed and revised over time, Pashinyan noted. As the prime minister assured, the Service, as a result of this reform, will only be strengthened.

 

At the same time, as Pashinyan pointed out, there are a number of functional responsibilities that, according to the authorities, should not be in the area of responsibility of this structure. In particular, this concerns intelligence. According to him, world experience shows that intelligence and counterintelligence should function separately from each other. In this context, the government plans to create a Foreign Intelligence Service within the next 5 years. The state security service will become a body subordinate to the Prime Minister (now it is in the structure of the RA NSS).

 

In addition, in the medium term, the NSS will stop fighting corruption crimes. "An anti-corruption committee is being created, which will also carry out operational activities," he explained.  Thus, the Investigation Department will no longer consider corruption cases, but will only deal with the investigation of cases related to the activities of the structure.

 

Pashinyan said that, according to the program, the border troops of the National Security Service of the Republic of Armenia will gradually take over the protection of the entire Armenian-Azerbaijani state border from the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia, necessary reforms will be carried out in the border troops of the National Security Service of the Republic of Armenia: the number of border troops will be increased, permanent posts for border formations will be built , carried out engineering furnishing of the state border and technical equipment of border units. Pashinyan's government, according to him, assigns a special place to the formation of a stable regional environment and the unblocking of regional infrastructures. "This is an important detail and innovation. In foreign policy, it is important for us to manage and overcome the atmosphere of hatred in order to establish regional peace," he pointed out.

 

The role of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship remains key in resolving the Karabakh conflict and clarifying the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh, ensuring regional stability and security, and Armenia will contribute to the effective functioning of this framework. "Our position is as follows: the full resumption of the peace process under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs is an important factor in ensuring regional stability and security," Pashinyan stressed.

 

Economy and social sector

 

According to the document, within the next 5 years, the Armenian government is committed to ensuring the minimum annual economic growth of 7%, and if there are favorable external economic conditions - at the level of 9%. According to the results of planned measures, the current unemployment rate of 17-18% should be below 10%, the poverty level should be halved, extreme poverty should be completely eliminated, and pensions (now the basic pension is 30 thousand drams) should be increased to meet the needs of the minimum consumer basket (55 thousand AMD). The amount of the minimum wage will also be increased from the current 68 thousand AMD to 85 thousand AMD. In addition, the investment / GDP ratio will be increased to at least 25%, and the foreign direct investment to GDP ratio will be at 6%.  The growth of the total factor productivity will be at least 5%. By 2026, they intend to bring the share of small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in the republic's GDP from 27% to 55%.

 

In agriculture, it is planned to develop intensive technologies, promoting an increase in the area of intensive gardens per thousand hectares per year, and also to exempt farmers from irrigation water fees for 5 years, who will completely switch to drip irrigation.  Subsidizing loans for the purchase and construction of new greenhouses and livestock farms will also continue. It is planned to increase the coverage of agricultural insurance. In order to increase the level of labor productivity, the authorities intend to make unpopular decisions, which, as the prime minister pointed out, require political will. In particular, the authorities should agree to land reform, and, possibly, to consolidate land. Pashinyan also noted the role of increasing the area of intensive gardens (by 1 thousand hectares per year), planning and expanding the agricultural insurance program.

 

By 2026, a compulsory health insurance system will be introduced in Armenia. According to Pashinyan, significant changes have been made in the healthcare sector in recent years. "Nevertheless, now the government has reached the point where radical reforms are needed. We must show political will and introduce an insurance program in the healthcare system in Armenia. I must say that we have, in fact, already decided on the content of the program. We have done a lot of work in this direction, and in the near future we should be able to implement the planned programs, "he said.