At today’s session of the National Assembly, the issue of creating an investigative committee of the National Assembly to study the conditions of organizing the life of the people of Nagorno Karabakh forcibly displaced and transferred to the Republic of Armenia was put to the vote. The ruling “Civil Contract” faction voted against it, and the issue was removed from the agenda.
The proposal was made to the opposition faction “Armenia”. According to the MPs of that faction, the main purpose of the creation of the commission is to study the conditions for ensuring the livelihood of the people of Artsakh, analyze the needs assessment system, record the facts of inconsistency between the implemented programs and solutions suggestions.
“Huge funds have been allocated from the diaspora and international organizations for the improvement of the living conditions of the people of Artsakh. Parliament is obliged to carry out effective control,” said MP Artsvik Minasyan.
The assistance provided to the people of Artsakh for about a year really needs inventory and control. During one year, the Government did not create a separate fund or any other structure that would systematically manage the funds addressed to the people of Artsakh, would ensure the transparency of aid provision and dispel doubts.
Since the funds are directed to the RA budget, there is no information anywhere about how much money was received, how it was spent and what results were obtained. Of course, the government gives a report on how many people and how much money or other aid it provided, but the information is not centralized.
All this causes several serious problems, the most important one being to “keep the people of Artsakh away from the funds” provided for them. It is no secret that Artsakh structures, especially community management bodies, can be useful in inventorying and assessing needs.
This problem became more prominent when the Government announced the program of providing housing for the people of Artsakh, for which the main condition was “accepting the citizenship of the Republic of Armenia”. Very few people applied for the program that started in June; only 30 certificates were issued in these 3-4 months. Public figures from Artsakh talk about the failure of the project.
From the very beginning, it was obvious that the condition of obtaining citizenship would lead to a 6–12-month delay of the project, if not failure. And it was not clear who and how will manage the funds provided for that project until they reach the addressee. This has raised suspicions that the program is being delayed intentionally so that the capital remains “free” as long as possible.
International organizations are also talking about it, and they wonder why the RA government does not want to concentrate the aid provided to Artsakh in one place and create a Board of Trustees to manage it effectively.
Now the Civil Contract faction rejects the proposal to create a commission, without explaining if it is a policy of not bringing the problem of Artsakh citizens to the parliament, or there is something to hide.
Hayk Konjoryan, head of the “Civil Contract” faction, announced that they will vote against the project.
Konjoryan reminded that the Government of RA and the governing faction have implemented many programs from the very first day and introduced a number of legislative regulations in the direction of ensuring the livelihood of our compatriots forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh, providing social and housing support and a number of other programs and that the programs continue.
“Our community has seen and witnessed this on a daily basis. And we believe that the parliamentary opposition, within the framework of its parliamentary functions, has all the powers and leverage to ask questions, interrogate and try all the facts or information that concern them in relation to these processes, and we, as the governing majority, are ready to work with the parliamentary opposition in all formats, including jointly work in committees, including creating working groups, if a nessesity arises,” Hayk Konjoryan stated.
Naira Hayrumyan