Armenian activist criticizes 'late and incomplete' pension rise

Armenian opposition activist Avetik Chalabyan, co-founder of the HayaKve initiative, criticized the impending pension increase as “late and incomplete” during a rally outside the Armenian government headquarters on Thursday.

Chalabyan congratulated more than half a million pensioners, saying their months-long struggle had finally yielded results. He noted that pensions had not risen as much in the past seven years as they did under the latest decision.

The activist recalled that HayaKve launched its pension-raising campaign in September last year, arguing that pensions in Armenia were “unacceptably and unjustifiably low”. Chalabyan accused the authorities of misusing budget resources for political purposes instead of improving people' welfare.

Chalabyan said Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and the minister of labor and social affairs had dismissed the initiative as “populism” and even described it as a form of “hybrid warfare” against the government. “Thankfully, that absurd stance has finally reached its logical end,” he told reporters, adding that pensioners continue to live in “disenfranchised conditions” that must be addressed.

He further claimed that the government raised pensions and benefits by 10,000 drams out of fear that pensioners would vote against them in the June parliamentary elections. “They will take the money and still vote against the ruling party,” Chalabyan said.