“Authorities are unable to remove broken things” (video)
Today’s debate organized by Media Center and broadcast live on “A1+” was on the fight against corruption declared by the Government. “It wasn’t the first statement; there have been such statements. In 2008, when Serzh Sargsyan became a president, two, three months later, maybe not such concretely, but a statement was made. On the one hand it is tiring to always listen to such statements. On the other side after April war and in this hard economic situation the authorities understand that the situation is very serious,” noted Varuzhan Hoktanyan, Chairman of Transparency International anti-corruption center. “Today’s authorities are not able to remove all the broken things, relations, people of all the layers and drawers. And those people remain in their places,” noted member of Yerevan Council of Elders Anahit Bakhshyan. In reply to the question what kind of mood there is in the Municipality over the issue of fight against corruption, she noted, “That topic isn’t discussed in the Municipality. I try to understand whether the Mayor wants to do anything, but I cannot see it.” Economist Hayk Gevorgyan highlighted that the legislative change is the last thing necessary for the fight against corruption, “Both monopolies and corruption are of systematic nature in Armenia,” he highlighted. “The most important thing is the stance of the society and the authorities. April war showed that there were drastic changes both in the stance of the authorities and the perceptions of the people. On the one hand we saw the deeds of our heroes on the frontline, were delighted with them, on the other hand we saw deep corruption. We saw soldiers, heroes, who lived in huts and the luxury of generals,” said Karen Zadoyan, Chairman of Advocates Association of Armenia.
