ARF Unveils Platform for May 5 Elections

YEREVAN—The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) last week unveiled its platform for the May 5 Yerevan Municipal Elections. Below is the full announcement, with some minor edits. The party will be participating with its own slate of candidates.

 

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Fellow citizens of Yerevan,

The May 5 Yerevan Municipal Elections will not only determine Yerevan’s prospects for development, but that of Armenia as a whole. It is time for decisive and radical changes in our country. It is time for Yerevan.

This election is a unique referendum on the public’s trust of the ruling regime. It is time to voice our protest against the political monocracy, the contaminated system of values, the complacency of the authorities, and their inefficient governance. Victory in Yerevan would mean victory for Armenia. Our hope to see a new face for Yerevan and Armenia will soon become a reality. We must simply express our will, be determined, and show that the people of Yerevan do not want to continue living as they have been.

Let’s start the campaign of victory from Yerevan. Let’s change Yerevan. And Yerevan will change Armenia.

Fellow citizens of Yerevan,

The ARF-D is resolute. Our proposed projects are bold, ambitious, and at the same time they are solid and realistic. We are not making lavish promises; instead, we are suggesting solutions. We know what must be done. We are well aware of the problems that the people of Yerevan face, and we know how to solve them.

We are a team, we have the willpower to do more, to do better than what has been done so far. Just compare the ARF-D with the rest and you will be convinced that we are different. We do not deceive, we do not betray.

Fellow citizens of Yerevan,

On May 5, vote in favor of change. Vote for your freedom, your wellbeing.  Vote for justice and for ARF-D. We will not let you down. For once, this time, give your vote to the ARF-D.

If elected, the ARF-D will address the following urgent issues:

 

System of governance

The ARF-D will:

(1) create a standing committee to control the budget of the municipality of Yerevan, which will be made up of the opposition as well as representatives of civic organizations and experts;

(2) protect the residential reserve, make available to the condominiums the reconstruction service resources with the direct participation of the residents. Condominiums must not serve as election instrument for the authorities;

(3) give autonomy to the educational structure that is subordinate to the municipality; decentralize it and optimize the mechanisms of control and accountability;

(4) create public order community service (through municipal police) and establish order in the capital, according to the law on Yerevan governance; and

(5) extend the jurisdictions and give a real work field to administration personnel.

 

Socio-economic policy

The ARF-D will:

(1) increase Yerevan’s budget, provide transparency and public disclosure across all the stages of budget performance, and pass to budget-drawing based on programming (finance projects according to results);

(2) apply different methods, such as shares, bonds, loans, etc., for the financing of city-wide projects; and

(3) budget expenses by giving priority to creating jobs, providing high-quality services, protecting the residential reserve, improving the city’s sanitary and environmental state, and solving major transportation problems.

 

Construction, environment, transport

The ARF-D will:

(1) strictly control construction activities, restore the capital’s environment, and stop the degradation of the city’s historical-cultural character;

(2) prohibit construction activities within the Small Center area, put an end to the local approach vis-a-vis constructions, clean Yerevan of illegal or arbitrary buildings, expand green areas and play areas, and draw common blueprints for attics;

(3) implement a full-scale inventory of the residential reserve elements, disclose and prevent seismic risks, draw up the restoration and protection of the residential reserve;

(4) make the social residential reserve a municipal responsibility;

(5) along with the government, elaborate and invest in the concept of the residential reserve by allocating at least 10 percent of the construction activities’ volume, set construction, national architectural-cultural protection zones, during construction period secure effective mechanisms so that the people are aware and participate through the process;

(6) register house ownership for those citizens whose residence was registered without ownership rights;

(7) implement garbage removal on a daily basis, apply contemporary methods for the sanitary cleaning of streets, underground passages, yards and residences, and introduce an ecologically clean system for garbage recycling;

(8) by 2017, at least double the city’s green areas and water surfaces;

(9) create recreational zones, one of them for children, at Dalma and Nork;

(10) organize the protection and effective use of the water reserve, including the ease of water balance pressure, the prevention of water loss, the identification of sources of pollution, the implementation of countering and prevention measures, and the full use of the Aeratsia station;

(11) regulate the function of pantheon venues and cemeteries, change the existing, disgraceful situation of the sector;

(12) reshape the Yerevan circuit and draw a new road network connecting Zvartnots Airport, outside the inhabited areas; and

(13) construct new metro lines and stations.

 

Public health and social protection

The ARF-D will:

(1) implement effective mechanisms for the social residential reserve and provide free-of-charge residences (without the right to transfer or use for other purposes) to large families and young couples;

(2) subsidize the most socially vulnerable, taking into consideration the minimum amount of natural gas, water, and electricity required for daily living;

(3) empower organizations by providing daycare for children (kindergartens, long-day school groups, professional daycare for children with special needs), and elevate the quality of those services;

(4) modernize institutions that provide care to the elderly, including the in-house care system, while shaping a network of recreational places for the elderly;

(5) provide, once and for all, an appropriate environment for people with mobility impairment;

(6) allocate financial assistance to civic organizations that deal with disability issues; and

(7) enhance the capacities and the quality of the services of the primary healthcare system.

 

Education and youth

The ARF-D will:

(1) develop the system of pre-school institutions, broaden the scale of enrollment, and apply common standards;

(2) expand the network of cultural-scientific educational centers, and increase the number of attendees;

(3) raise the budgetary and off-budgetary resources of educational institutions, along with their effectiveness;

(4) develop the social protection system of teachers and staff;

(5) implement an active policy for youth employment; and

(6) support the realization of scientific and creative projects of talented youth.