Varuzhan Hoktanyan is against the “copy pasts” of anti-corruption bodies. He says that people often suggest to use the experience of this or that country while putting into practice such kind of body in our country without taking into account that they are not in line with our mentality and cannot be used in Armenia.
During the “Possibilities and Challenges of Creating an Independent Institutional System of Fight against Corruption in the Republic of Armenia” Working Meeting, he noted that an independent anti-corruption institution can function only in the country where the laws are effective and the degree of punishment is high, otherwise, according to the Executive Director of the “Transparency International” Anti-Corruption Center, this body will turn into ordinal corrupted body.
Among other issues, the public may be interested in the activities of this body. “The issue of public trust is also very important, besides, if there is no awareness and this body does not inform about its activities, a few people will know about it and will not have trust in it”, said the public speaker adding that the anti-corruption body should also possess very powerful information systems and confidential information as well.
Which are the dangers? Analyzing the international experience, Varuzhan Hoktanyan said that anti-corruption body could be at best an ineffective institution, in addition, our country does not have enough sources for supplementing it. The next danger is that the anti-corruption body could become a source of inter-ministerial conflicts for implementation of this or that duty.
One of the most important risks is that anti-corruption body can become a tool for political revenge.
Varuzhan Hoktanyan told the workshop participants that there is not such a body in Germany and it is not demanded there as well.” Studying the experience of such countries, it is accepted to say that they have decentralized anti-corruption institutional system that is they not fight themselves but the fight continues in different bodies, for example, there are law enforcement bodies in Armenia that have similar functions” emphasized Mr. Hoktanyan.
