The Armenian nation originated at the dawn of civilization. During its historical development the Armenian nation has overcome numerous trials and tribulations and entered the 21st century, possessing significant spiritual, cultural and civilization values. Nowadays:
OUR KEY GOAL IS TO CREATE A FREE AND DECENT SOCIETY OPEN TO INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
OUR socio-political system shall be based on the principles of:
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OUR economy shall function on the principles of:
and the economic role of the government shall be the support of sustainable socio-economic development.
OUR international cooperation shall be aimed at:
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We propose to rehabilitate national manufacturing and to direct it to the domestic market. To produce quality goods and services for the population of Armenia, world-famous companies which possess advanced technologies shall be attracted. These investors will be exempted from the profit tax for 5 years, from the beginning of the production.
The state will act as a co-investor in such industrial sectors, contributing land and funds to joint ventures to build the plants. Foreign investors shall provide the joint ventures with modern technologies and personnel training. As an additional guarantee, the state will ensure private foreign investments at the international insurance market.
Joint ventures with state participation will sign contracts with investors on production sharing based on which the investors will sell part of the output on external markets. To ensure the functioning of the national industry, the state will also develop the raw-material base in Armenia and draw raw materials from Russia and Iran. To implement this strategy, the state shall establish the Fund for National Development which will govern state investment, the profit from which will be directed to education and pensions. To finance state investments, the government will attract loans based on long-term government bonds.
We propose full-scale utilization of the existing capabilities to attract international aid in order to improve the current and establish new biosphere reserves on 50% of the national territory. The surface area of wildlife protected by the state shall account for at least 10% of the national territory. On 40% of the territory, forestation shall be carried out to build new environmental complexes. International assistance is needed to improve water resources management by increasing the number of water reservoirs and upgrading the irrigation system.
To combat environmental pollution, strict standards shall be introduced that limit industrial waste, gas and dust emissions to the atmosphere and wastewater drainage to rivers and lakes. To upgrade the waste treatment plants, the state will extend preferential directed loans for up to 5 years to the enterprises which need relevant equipment. To dispose of industrial and household waste, and to process mining waste, the state will attract foreign companies which possess advanced technologies and will establish joint ventures with them. These foreign investments will be exempted from the profit tax and insured at the international insurance market.
To better manage territorial development, the state shall implement the strategic environmental assessment of development plans in conformity with international standards.
We propose new territorial settlement planning under which the metropolitan region (the capital and satellite towns) will become the center for intangible production, and tangible production will be dispersed in provincial urban areas. The regional centers will be connected with the capital and between each other with a modern transport system. In civil construction, new “green” standards will be introduced in conformity with the modern norms of resource-saving. The state will implement the program for the improvement of living conditions which will enable real estate owners to acquire new modern houses in districts with developed social infrastructure through the exchange and sale of their property.
To promote the internal mobility of labor resources in new urban areas, affordable rental housing will be created. The land tax will be flexibly differentiated by the intended end-use of land plots and higher tax rates will be applied to unused land. The owners of unused land will be able to sell their plots to the state or to contribute them to investment projects. To carry out this strategy, the state will establish joint real-estate development companies and invest land and funds needed for capital construction. Such investments shall be managed by the Fund for National Development.
To reinforce the system of national security we propose to establish a military and political alliance with France. In this connection, Armenia needs to withdraw from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). We believe, it must be done step by step, without termination of existing military agreements with Russia, waiting for the expiry of the agreements. The agreement duration period for the unified air-defense system with Russia and the joint military force is until 2022, for the Collective Security Treaty in 2024, and for the Russian military intervention in Artsakh in 2025.
Parallel to the expiry of agree ments with Russia and CSTO, Armenia shall begin conclusion of new military agreements with France . The agreement on the Russian military base expires in 2042. We believe, Russia can preserve its military presence in Armenia until the expiration of this term, provided that rent will be paid for the use of the military base, and the military force will not be used against Georgia. Military and technical cooperation with France shall become a platform for the modernization of the Armenian Army in conformity with European standards.
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The state shall invest in the establishment of the military and industrial complex that would ensure the national manufacture of weaponry and materiel . To organize military production, it is necessary to purchase military technology licenses and broaden the financing of design and research in the country. To raise the professionalism of the military, European standards of military training must be introduced and the draft age raised to 21 years. The structure of the armed forces shal l be changed to raise the quality of combat command and control and to broaden the capability of tactical units. The military doctrine of Armenia shall proceed from the premise that to ensure national security, sufficient military balance with Azerbaijan and Turkey shall be reached. That is why the military capability of Armenian armed forces shall be equal to that of Azerbaijan and 1/3 of Turkey’s military capability. If hostilities with Azerbaijan resume, the military capability of Artsakh shall be sufficient to defend its territory until the military engagement of Armenia. To timely detect possible security threats by potential adversaries, the intelligence capabilities shall be improved to afford time for the leadership of Armenia to use diplomatic mechanisms for the prevention of armed conflicts.
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We propose to establish a unified system of internal security to perform the following functions:
The technical capacity of this system shall protect the citizens, private entities and state institutions from any internal threat, and raise the efficiency of crime prevention and investigation and the search for criminals. A unified information system shall facilitate information exchange between all the bodies of the security system, which will allow taking integrated measures for public and individual security.
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It is also necessary to improve the system of punishment for criminal offenses, creating conditions for real correction and social rehabilitation of offenders. Crime prevention shall become the key goal of law enforcement. Complete eradication of corruption shall become a major internal security task, first of all in the bodies of public administration. Automated government services and increased transparency of public administration are the main means of solving this problem. To return to the state the illegal property acquired through corruption, it is necessary to improve the current legislative framework and to establish a court for corruption cases.
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We propose to update the current system of registration of legal rights based on digital technologies to facilitate state registration procedures, making them more accessible for the users, and facilitating information retrieval, thus reducing costs.
To enhance legal order, it is necessary to introduce mechanisms of out-of-court settlement of civil, administrative and economic disputes based on simple and affordable arbitration procedures. To restore public confidence in the judiciary system and to enhance the adversarial nature of judicial proceedings, it is necessary to introduce jury trials in criminal cases.
It is necessary to completely use all the possibilities afforded by the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement with the European to introduce the European experience in the Armenian legal system.
To protect democracy and the rule-of-law state, it is necessary to impose a 10-year ban on the participation in public administration and local self-government of the persons who helped the criminal regime that existed in Armenia until 2018 to usurp power. To restore social justice, it is necessary to introduce a tax on unjustifiable wealth.
We propose radical improvements in the current education system by dividing it into four basic periods:
Middle education shall consist of two cycles: general (9-14) and vocational (15-17). Higher education shall also consist of two cycles: preliminary (18-21) and undergraduate. Preschool, elementary, middle and preliminary cycle of higher education shall be free of charge and mandatory for all. Also, each citizen shall have the right to enter, free of charge, on a competitive basis, the undergraduate cycle of higher education.
The persons who failed competitive admissions under the state quota and foreigners will have an opportunity to enter the undergraduate cycle of higher paid education. To make national diplomas compliant with the criteria of the European zone of higher education, it is necessary to upgrade the system of higher education under the provisions of the Bologna Declaration. In addition to subsidies for student tuition, under the state quota, universities will receive grants from the state for research in fundamental science and creative work in art and culture.
We propose the introduction of mandatory state medical insurance. Under the basic program of mandatory insurance, each individual will be provided with primary medical aid, including prevention, and ambulance aid. The civilian population will be provided with policlinic and ambulatory aid in medical centers, and preventive measures, including regular medical checkups of healthy children. For an additional fee, the citizens will be provided with a broader list and a higher level of medical services. The system of mandatory state medical insurance shall be managed by the Fund of National Healthcare.
We propose to partially relieve the employers of the responsibility for the employee’s social insurance and to introduce flexible individual insurance under which the employees would themselves determine the needed level of social protection from the losses of earnings in case of incapacity for work caused by temporary disease or unemployment. The employers shall insure the employees against the losses of earnings as a result of accidents at work and occupational diseases. The Fund of Social Protection shall manage the system of mandatory state social insurance.
Old-age pensions shall be granted by the Fund of National Development in case of 10 years of residence in the country regardless of work experience. In addition, each individual shall be allowed to possess state-guaranteed pension savings accounts to be replenished from one’s own funds.
The state shall pay from the state budget at the expense of tax revenue, disability pensions, allowances to acquire technical means for rehabilitation and prosthetic and orthopedic items, survivor’s pensions and payments in connection with maternity, pregnancy, childbirth, and for child care under three.
We propose independent foreign policy whose main goals will be as follows:
We propose a macroeconomic policy aimed at the increase in state revenue from the profit generated by state investments in the economy, and parallel reduction of the tax burden.
State revenue shall be maintained at the level of at least 32% of GDP, of which at least 12% shall be tax revenue, at least 12% shall be the profit generated by state investments, at least 5% shall be mandatory insurance contributions to state funds, and at least 3%, natural resource use fees. The mid–term public debt level shall be 60% of GDP with a permissible deviation of no more than 10%. The fiscal policy shall be aimed at the phased reduction in taxes and current insurance contributions. Direct taxes levied on the income of physical persons shall become the priority of taxation policy.
Banks shall act as revenue agents instead of enterprises and organizations. In the monetary sphere, an interest rate reduction policy is necessary. To achieve this goal, the population shall keep most of its savings in listed securities. To this end, the banks shall restrict long-term deposits in foreign currency. For investment in foreign currency, the banks shall issue mid-term foreign currency bonds, freely negotiable securities. In the sphere of mortgage and consumer lending, loans in foreign currency shall be banned.
We propose a constitutional reform to expand the citizens’ socio-political rights, including broader participation of the foreign citizens of Armenia in public administration. The constitution shall stipulate the right to free higher education, affordable medical aid and social protection based on mandatory insurance and state revenue. In governance, the principle of separation of powers shall be enhanced, ruling out control over the executive, legislative and judiciary powers by a political force. To this end, all three branches of power shall be elected by direct election. To raise the voters’ role in public administration, the mandate of the member of the parliament shall be reduced to two years. The judges of the First Instance Courts and the Supreme Court, and district prosecutors shall be elected for 6 years.