YEREVAN (Arka)—Armenia’s parliamentary minority is going to ask the country’s highest court to again deem the controversial national retirement plan sponsored by the government as “unconstitutional,” Artsvik Minasyan from the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) said Tuesday.
According to him, the move is being backed by the Prosperous Armenia Party, the Heritage and the Armenian National Congress.
Under the new pension system that first took force on January 1, 2014, all Armenian citizens born after 1973 must pay social security taxes equivalent to 5 percent of their gross monthly wages, which will be matched and doubled by the government. However, the reform triggered fierce resistance from many affected Armenians; most of them employed by private firms, and was effectively blocked by the Constitutional Court in April.
The government responded by making the pension reform mandatory only for public sector employees. The law will cover private entities only from July 2017.
Speaking to reporters, Artsvik Minasyan said the opposition will challenge the law on three constitutional points.
“I am confident that our citizens who do not take to the streets to protest against the law will be glad to have their rights protected at the Constitutional Court,” said Minasyan.
