Friday, 5 August 2005
Today RA Prime Minister A. Margaryan has received the members of the council of the Armenian Aldermen's Association.
Prioritizing the role and place of Armenian Aldermen's Association NGO (AAA) in the establishment and development of the system of local self-governance, the Prime Minister highly valued the cooperation with organizations like this and added that similar meetings were being arranged with the Communities Union, the members of the Armenian Union of Financial Experts and so on. He said that notwithstanding the fruitful joint work carried out with the AAA in the past in both the legislative and executive fields, still there were a good number of problems under the government's focus that would be impossible to tackle without the participation of all the concerned entities and local self-government bodies.
Mr. A. Margaryan placed a special focus upon raising the awareness of the public about the role assigned to aldermanic councils enhancing thereby their efficiency to counterbalance the authority of community chief executives and facilitating the monitoring of community programs in processs, the timely implementation and the compliance with the undertakings taken up by community heads.
The Prime Minister said that it was not fortuitous that this meeting was taking place on the eve of the local elections due to be held later this year as he was sure that the Armenian aldermen's association could play a significant role in ensuring that the upcoming elections were held in line with the international standards in an atmosphere of transparency and active public involvement. He also emphasized this organization's eventual support to the referendum on constitutional reforms to be held this November in terms of proper presentation of the proposed draft and public initiation, as well as with regard to their possible contribution to the cause of intercommunity associations. The Prime Minister stressed the necessity for local organizations to collaborate with their cross-country counterparts and promised to assist the Association in this matter as much as possible.
Thanking the Prime Minister for the audience and attention accorded, President of the Association of Armenian Aldermen, member of the Board and Executive Committee of United Cities and Local Authorities worldwide organization Mr. Araik Hovhannisyan has briefed the Prime Minister on the goals and key objectives, as well as on the on-going and projected activities of the NGO. In stating his satisfaction at the current level of cooperation with the Government and Minister of Territorial Administration, Mr. Hovhannisyan expressed the hope that that the issues raised on either side would be solved with shared concern and combined efforts.
