On 9 February 2019, the RA Government’s programme was approved in the government’s session. In it, a special place was dedicated to fight against corruption with an emphasis on fight against corruption being one of the priorities of the government’s activities.
The public agenda of leading an uncompromising fight against corruption was formed during the non-violent, velvet revolution that took place in Armenia in the spring of 2018. Therefore, the political forces that have taken up the leadership of the country today don’t have an alternative, other than to come up with revolutionary and systemic recommendations to solve that problem and bring them to life.
Speaking of the structure of the mentioned section in the Government’s programme, at first we need to mention that in terms of methodology it is not written on the three main pillars identifying efficiency of fight against corruption, that is, anti-corruption education, prevention and enforcement, which proves that no systemic approach has been displayed. Afterwards, the regulations related to the introduction of the institutional anti-corruption system and the strategic priorities of the new anti-corruption policy, that require primary solutions in fight against corruption, are not stated in the mentioned section with sufficient clarity.
In the sense of having an institutional anti-corruption system, in the Government’s programme, creation of a specialized anti-corruption agency with independence guarantees, functions needed for carrying out studies and discovering corruption crimes, while there is no word about the other two functions, preventive and educational.
In the Government’s programme, no clear vision is presented on the direction the fight against corruption will take in the years to come, as well as the institutional anti-corruption system to be introduced in Armenia and the priorities of the new anti-corruption policy.
The best international experience shows that the policies adopted by countries to raise the level of fight against corruption is developed in one direction, forming an independent universal anti-corruption agency, which will regulate and implement all the measures aimed at reducing corruption in a comprehensive manner. Being sure that the solution of the above anti-corruption institutional system is the most efficient one in today’s world, we present in this brief statement the main advantages of the specialized independent universal anti-corruption agency.
During the parliamentary elections of 2017, the “Bright Armenia,” “Republic,” and “Civil Contract” parties, united around the “YELK” Alliance, had foreseen creation of an independent, universal anti-corruption agency in the section of the pre-election programme titled “Fight against Corruption.”Two of the mentioned political forces, “My Step” Alliance, whose central political force is the “Civil Contract” party, and the “Bright Armenia” party are represented today in the parliament. Thus, all the preconditions are there for displaying sufficient political will and forming a joint agenda as regards creation of an independent universal anti-corruption agency.
Thus, taking into account that at the moment no full and efficient solutions on the institutional anti-corruption agency have been defined in the government’s draft programme and the draft “RA Anti-Corruption Strategy and Its 2019-2022 Implementation Action Plan,” we suggest organising evidence-based specialised discussions with the participation of the relevant state agencies, the anti-corruption expert community, experts from specialised civil society organisations, political forces and international experts, aimed at introducing an independent anti-corruption agency in Armenia, outlining strategic solutions in the directions of three main pillars of anti-corruption, and making final decisions based on public consensus on the priorities of the new anti-corruption policy.
Based on the above-mentioned, we call upon the RA EXECUTIVE AND LEGISLATIVE AUTHORITIES not to automatically continue the practice of the previous authorities to fight against corruption with situational solutions and to form a joint and coordinated agenda to institutionalise fight against corruption in the country with all the stakeholders.
At the same time, the CSO Anti-Corruption Coalition of Armenia announces about its willingness to organise and hold the above-mentioned speciliased discussions.
SECRETARIAT OF THE CSO ANTI-CORRUPTION COALITION OF ARMENIA
13 February 2019
