“The Government created Anti-Corruption Council cannot work effectively and carry out it tasks as it is not an independent structure,” Harutyun Aleksanyan, President of “Elegia” NGO said in the interview with Iravaban.net.
“I think that such structures should be formed using the international experience. This Council should have its staff, financial independence, stability; that is it shouldn’t depend on the Government funding, separate funding should be allocated from the state budget as it is in case of the Human Rights Defender’s Office,” Mr. Aleksanyan said.
As for the members of the Council, according to him high officials, such as the Prime Minister or Ministers should not be members of the Council. In our case Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan is the Head of the Council, Gevorg Kostanyan, the Prosecutor General and Gagik Khachatryan, the RA Minister of Finance are members of the Council.
“Staff should be composed of CSO representatives and maybe middle-level officials who are independent and not constrained by some criminal oligarchic bonds. As we know, some officials are immersed directly into oligopolies, which simply will not allow the Council to act independently,” Harutyun Aleksanyan said.
