Lawmaker: Life will become unbearable for ordinary residents (video)
During the discussion on the 2016 state budget, opposition lawmaker Stepan Demirtchyan said he did not observe positive trends in the country’s economy. “You cannot solve the existing problems by changing the Constitution. The problems will not be solved unless the government is formed through free and transparent elections. Armenia needs an honest, fair and incorruptible government,” he said. Independent lawmaker Edmon Marukyan said, in turn, that he is not comforted to hear that the 2016 budget is a conservative budget. “In 2016, we shall have the same expenses and we shall be in a better position than our neighbouring countries. There is no cause for pride in this statement,” he said. The lawmaker says it is necessary to optimize the management system and send the money to communities. “But the funds will again be distributed to communities in an unfair way. Rural residents will again come to Yerevan to get education and medical treatment while the marzes will remain poor. Armenia has turned into one big city –Yerevan. I am speaking in the name of rural residents who live in abject poverty. I want to inform them that a bad economic year is predicted only for them because representatives of the state apparatus will continue to live in the same luxury driving expensive cars and meeting in gilded halls,” he said.
