Friday, 13 May 2005
Today RA Prime Minister A. Margaryan has received co-rapporteurs of the PACE (Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe) monitoring commission Jerzi Jaskernia, George Coloumbier and commission secretary Bonny Theophilova. The meeting was attended by the members of the Anti-Corruption Commission under RA Prime Minister.
To begin with, Mr. Jaskernia felicitated Mr. A. Margaryan on the 5th anniversary of his assumption of office. With reference to the subject under review, Mr. Coloumbier mentioned that he had agreed to assume the task of PACE co-rapporteur for Armenia as he was well-informed on the our country's past history and the current challenges owing to the Armenians based in France, among others, and that he was among those members of the French Parliament to have passed the bill on the recognition of the Armenian Genocide.
Then the Parties discussed a broad range of issues concerning the fulfilment of the commitments assumed by Armenia before the Council of Europe. The Prime Minister noted that on the way to the European integration Armenia was consistent in the observation of its undertakings and had completed a good deal of work to date. Asked by the guests, he briefed them on Armenia's current social-economic status and the prospects for future development. With reference to recent activities carried out in our country against corruption, Mr. A. Margaryan emphasized the adoption of the anti-corruption strategy as supported with relevant plan of action with all the measures specified for the period 2003-2004 having been completed in full. A council for the coordination of the fight against corruption and a monitoring commission for the implementation of the anti-corruption strategy involving the representatives of non-governmental organizations, political forces, parliamentary groups and other public entities had been set up by a presidential decree. The focus of the work underway in this field was said to be the minimization of the risks of corruption both through administrative improvements and legislative amendments. Concerning the constitutional reforms, the Prime Minister advised that a Coalition-authored draft of amendments had been approved by the National Assembly recently to be the basis for future improvements. Mr. A. Margaryan expressed confidence that this draft would have been finalized before the second reading with consideration of the comments and recommendations expected at the next panel discussions to be held with the experts of the Venice Commission so as to harmonize it as much as possible with the requirements set.
Asked by the guests, the Prime Minister also presented his views over the on-going authorities-opposition political dialog, the legal status of the Mayor of Yerevan, the eventual amendments to the election code, the freedom of mass media outlets and other issues.
