Corruption backbone in Armenia has been broken, but there is a need for institutional support for anti-corruption fight. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced this in the National Assembly today, presenting the government program.

He pointed out that one of the key provisions of the government’s program is to strengthen the leverages through which the public will be able to control what property and income the public official or even the nominee to the position has.

For example, in this case, the official or the nominee empowers the authority to collect information about his/her income and property and make it available to the public.

Pashinyan also mentioned that Armenia should unequivocally have an independent anti-corruption body. “It’s a matter of serious debate what powers it should have: investigation, investigative, operative-intelligence … It’s another topic that needs to be discussed in detail,” he said and added that the formation of the body is possible to carry out stage-by-stage.

Referring to the judicial system, Pashinyan noted that the government has a political will to ensure that the courts operate independently and will not deviate from that direction.