Monday, December 16 2013

 Elected through non-transparent elections, the authorities of Armenia are not accountable to the public, said Varuzhan Hoktanyan, Director of Transparency International Armenia Anti-Corruption Center, introducing the second National Integrity System assessment of Armenia, Monday.

Hoktanyan said that The National Integrity System evaluates key 'pillars' in a country's governance system, both in terms of their internal corruption risks and their contribution to fighting corruption in society at large. The pillars analysed in a National Integrity System assessment typically include:  Legislative branch of government,  Executive branch of government, Judiciary, Public sector, Law enforcement, Electoral management body, Ombudsman, Audit institution, Anti-corruption agencies, Political parties, Media, Civil society, Business.  The survey was conducted in 2009-2013 to find out if the given institutions protect the interests of citizens and how effectively is the legislation applied in practice.  Hoktanyan said that the final results of the National Integrity System assessment will be published till the end of the current year. By preliminary results, the given system in Armenia is weak, first of all, due to insufficient level of application of laws in the country. In Armenia, Hoktanyan said, there is imitation of reforms, a very low level of independence of all the above institutions, except the president and the government. According to the National integrity system assessment, the country lacks material and human resources, coordination and interactions of separate basic institutions.  

The reason of such poor results is the low level of the authorities' accountability to the public, Hoktanyan said recalling the unjust elections held in the country. He outlined also the weak economy and insufficient political and economic competition among the reasons affecting the National integrity system in Armenia.