The sitting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Defence and National Security issues was to discuss the draft law on making changes to the law “On citizens that have not done the mandatory military service in accordance with the prescribed order”, which had raised a stir among the public.
The draft was composed by a group of MPs: Galust Sahakyan, Karine Achemyan, Vahe Enfiajyan, Aghvan Vardanyan and Artak Zeynalyan. They suggest giving another chance to young people above 27 who have not done the mandatory military service and are currently abroad to pay a fine and avoid prosecution.
But this time, unlike all the other prolongation drafts, it is recommended to pay a few times higher price for each conscription, 500 thousand drams, in addition, it is proposed to fix by the law that no longer any opportunity will be given to prolong the deadline, that is, this is the last opportunity for those who avoid serving in the army.
Committee members expressed their dissatisfaction during the previous session, if we are talking about improving the demography, we cannot close the doors before these young people.
The Committee decided to postpone the draft voting. Yesterday, the revised version had to be discussed at the session, however, as we have reported, there was no quorum, and the session did not take place.
Deputy Minister of Defence Artak Zakaryan, who attended the session, told some details on the concessions they had made in a conversation with journalists. “Our position was not and hasn’t ever been principled. It was the press who reported that the Defence Ministry had expressed a principled position. We think that it is necessary to raise the existing tiny payment which is not an obstacle for the army avoiders. Our goal is not the money. The money should be a barrier in some extent to prevent easy avoidances”.
As for the fact whether that is the last opportunity given, Zakaryan said, “Our principled position has not changed. This law has gradually turned into one of the circumstances of military service avoidance, as the deadline has been periodically extended. Our only concern is that. We believe that such laws should serve their purpose and not have other loopholes, windows”.
And the concession of the Ministry of Defence is in the amount of money. The draft suggested raising the payment of 100 thousand drams for each conscription set by the current law to 500 thousand drams, and now the position has changed, they suggest setting 200 thousand as the amount.
In response to our remark, that during the previous session, members of the Committee seemed to be against the notion that this is the last opportunity for young men above 27 to get exempted from serving by payment, Artak Zakaryan said they were not against, they simply had to set up another mechanism and they found a suitable option, which will be presented at the Committee’s session.
Hripsime JEBEBJYAN
