"Buy-out" military service proposal rejected again

ArmInfo. Hayk Sargsyan, a member of the ruling "Civil Contract" faction in the National Assembly, is persisting in his efforts to advance his proposed bill  on buying out military service in Armenia.

At a meeting of the National Assembly Committee on Defense and Security, Sargsyan once again presented his justifications, which, however, failed to  convince the committee members. As a result, the Committee issued a negative opinion on the proposed amendments to the Law "On Military Service and the Status of Servicemen" and a package of related  documents. 

The amendments propose giving citizens over 18 a choice: either serve  for 24 months with increased pay or shorten their service by paying  15 million drams for six months and 20 million drams for one month.  The MP noted that thousands of citizens are evading military service  using various loopholes. Legalizing these loopholes would attract  additional financial resources that could be used to increase  conscripts' pay.

However, as Deputy Defense Minister Arman Sargsyan noted, if the  package is adopted, the number of draft dodgers will not decrease,  but rather increase, but only on legal grounds.