“The first president of Armenia selected a staff based on the principle ‘poacher turned gamekeeper’ that didn’t work. Many rules were adopted concerning civil service and state service during the second president’s rule. And during the third president’s rule unpartisan and professional staff was selected”, said Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) MP Artak Davtyan during a discussion on staff policy at the National Press Club today. According to him, the solution to the staff problem is the following – those people who will assume offices in the executive branch must stop partisan activities, even give up membership.
According to Lilit Galstyan, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) MP, for the past 20 years the staff has been selected based on one principle, “The more you are loyal to the election process, the more your compensation will be. Many become members of this or that party like a herd, without even knowing what party it is. One thinks that his gate will be repaired, the other his son will be freed from the army – so they go for it on voluntary cringe. As a result, starting with day-care nurses and ending with school principals, everybody is in the pre-election headquarters and has 6 party symbols under their collars. People are convinced that one must support the establishment, in order to have his place under the sun.”
Armen Martirosyan, the Heritage Party MP, thinks that people who hold offices in our country want to rule over the economy through power, “If business is separated from the economics, everything will be normal.”
Hripsime JEBEJYAN
