PEOPLE’S APPRAISAL OF THE AUTHORITIES

Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic [NKR]
01 July 05

`The results of the election were the people’s appraisal ofthe NKR
authorities, the manifestation of their attitude,’ said Prime Minister
Anoushavan Danielian at the government meeting on June 28. He thanked
all the voters, the members of the district and divisional election
committees, all the organizations which had assisted to holding the
election. `I think I will not be mistaken if I state that we managed
to hold fair and transparent democratic elections in our country,
which is another achievement of the people of Artsakh in achieving
stability and unity and independence,’ said Anoushavan Danielian. `It
is not the necessity of the expected results that I want to emphasize
but the importance of the evaluation of the international community
for our people.This evaluation is the generalization of the opinions
of the 130 international observers, who arrived in NKR to monitor the
election, asserting the high level of the parliamentary election.’
Drawing parallels between the previous presidential, parliamentary and
local elections, the prime minister regarded the recent parliamentary
election as their continuation, defining it as the best public opinion
poll of the time. `As to the use of `administrativeresources’ by
certain political forces, I think this kind of statements should be
specified. Yes, the power (the government) possesses resources, and
this should be viewed in the context of its activities. The evidence
to this is the summary of the past 5 years, itemized in the statements
of the government, and today we inform public about the facts, as well
as the shortcomings without hesitating.=80=9D To support his words,
the head of the government provided several macroeconomic indices
which had a deciding role in the economic progress and solution of the
social problems. People still remember the recent times when the
problem ofthe payment of salaries was subject of constant discussions,
and experienced the unbearable social situation. When the new
government took office, the debtsof retirement benefit totaled 840
million drams, and the salary of teachers had not been paid for
months. The debt of payments for electricity had amountedto 1 billion
500 thousand drams, and for natural gas (only in Stepanakert) =80` 700
million drams. `This is in the past now, and the government owes
nosalary and pension debts. The teacher whose salary used to be 18-20
thousand drams is paid 50 thousand drams from the state budget, and
the energy system and Artsakhgas with continuously growing debts have
500 million and 100 milliondrams of income respectively.’ The prime
minister mentioned that the government managed to keep its word and
doubled the GDP in four years. The rates of the previous year show
that the income of the year 2005 will total 6 billion 500 million
drams. This will enable increasing the volume of construction both in
the capital and the regions. A. Danielian mentioned that the
`pre-election moods’ will hardly affect the industry and the expected
results. The prime minister asserted that the state revenues will grow
by 42 per cent this year. At thesame time he mentioned that it is
necessary to analyze critically what has been done, draw conclusions
from the results of the election and plan the future
realistically. `Through the parliamentary election the people highly
appreciated our work. And we are obliged to justify their confidence,’
said the prime minister. Then the Executive adopted more than 20
decisions on the projects and bills which had been discussed and
recommended at the consultation held on the eve. The government
particularly approved the NKR bills on insolvency (bankruptcy) and
attorneys. The government adopted decisions on the procedure of state
geological test on explored natural resources and other geological
information, the procedure of licensing tour guides and the form of
the license, the forms and procedure of submission of statements to
the authorized agency of the NKR government by companies organizing
lotteries, monthly pecuniary aid to parentless children, the procedure
of state registration of bylaws, publication of the official
periodical `NKR Official Reference’, free supply of firewood and
timber to the NKR Ministry of Defence. The government also confirmed
the procedure of drawing the maps of urban and rural settlements in
NKR, although there were disagreements on this issue. Particularly it
was mentioned that the procedure of drawing the maps of urban and
rural communities is established but no improvements of living
conditions are foreseen. Prime Minister Anoushavan Danielian mentioned
that although the map of the community is the main document of city
planning, it is often neglected by the heads of communities. He
pointed out the fact that illegal construction is going on in the
central streets of the capital city instead of repairing the roads on
the outskirts and solving the problems of sanitation on the return on
taxes on property, land and other.`It is astonishing when foreign
businessmen come to invest up to 1 million US dollars and create new
jobs, their application for land to start construction may receive no
answer for months on, and they often get disappointed and change their
minds,’ said A. Danielian. `In addition to this rumours are
circulating that the government hinders the work of the City Hall, and
the means provided by the state budget are not disbursed to the
community. I state that this is disinformation, and the subsidies are
transferred to the City Hall of Stepanakert by 100 per cent. As to the
problems coordinated by the mayor, related to the deficiency in the
work of companies providing services, in the result of which the
inhabitants of the capital city suffer, it is not correct to blame the
government,’ said the A. Danielian. According to him, it is
unacceptable that the problem of sanitation in the capital is
neglected, and the debts owed to the enterprise Sanitation & Greenery
have amounted to 38 million drams. Refuse is not collected for days,
huge piles appear in the streets and yards, causing risk of
epidemic. `I do not remember a similar situation in the capital. And
now it is becoming clear why over 30 workers of the enterprise
complained in the letter addressed to the government of bad working
conditions and an extremely low salary of 15 thousand drams,’ said the
prime minister. Whereas,if the debt of 38 million drams is collected,
the salary can be increased up to 40-50 thousand drams. The same is
with Stepanakert Water & Sewage State CJSC, where the debt of payments
for water and other services owned to the company totals 94 million
drams. In conclusion A. Danielian asked the mayor of Stepanakertto
tackle these problems with the support of all the ministries and
agencies to the community. At the same time he instructed the minister
of city planningand the mayor of Stepanakert to present a report on
the prevention of illegal construction and penalizing the owners in a
week’s time. The government also approved the procedure of working out
and instituting the models of land zoning and use and several other
issues. The executive confirmed the list of the issues to be discussed
by the government in the third quarter of 2005.

AA.
01-07-2005

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress