Ashotyan does not meet with teachers protesting against mandatory accumulative pension system

 Armenian Minister of Education and Science Armen Ashotyan has failed to meet with the teachers protesting against the mandatory accumulative pension system. The protesters were very disappointed. Some of them thought that the Minister refused to meet with them and to listen to their demands because he was short of time due to his active behavior on Facebook.  The demonstrators pointed out that the headmasters of schools and principals of universities are mostly members of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia and therefore failed to join the protest. In the meantime, the protesters said that they would not let their heads dismiss those who were not afraid to express their protest.    

Earlier Armen Ashotyan told the media that those teachers, who presented a relevant statement, would not face 5% deductions from the wages to the pension fund. However, today the teachers said that they still face deductions despite their statement sent to the Finance Ministry. Moreover, pension funds were chosen for them without their knowledge.    

The protesters handed their letter to Ashotyan with the help of Artur Baghdasaryan, Head of the PR Department of the Armenian Ministry of Education and Science. In the letter the teachers demand stopping to transfer 5% of their wages to the pension fund. 
To note, nearly 200 demonstrators - mostly teachers and members of the "Dem.am" (I'm Against) initiative - took part in today's action of protest in front of the building of the Armenian Ministry of Education and Science.   

To recall, the 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.