KHOSROV HARUTYUNYAN: THE PUBLIC COUNCIL IS A NON-POLITICAL STRUCTURE
Karen Ghazaryan

"Radiolur"
18.05.2009 17:17

"The public is alienated from political processes, from participating
in the decision-making," member of the Public Chamber Khosrov
Harutyunyan told a press conference today. He considers that one of
the main missions of the Council is to have the public participate
in the decision-making process.

Khostov Harutyunyan is optimistic. He is assured that the Public
Council will play a useful role in the formation of civil society,
"while what is useful cannot be rejected by the public," member of
the Public Council declared. He informed that all 12 committees of
the Public Council have been formed, and the first results of their
activity are expected to be visible in September.

The Public Council has a broad spectrum of activity. However, in
response to the question about the possible relationship with the
forthcoming elections for the Yerevan City Council, Khosrov Harutyunyan
said: "The Public Council is a non-political structure, i.e. it cannot
come forth with statements that have direct political implication. The
Public Council cannot make statements that might lead to political
consequences. However, the Council can consider the Law on Local
Self-Government Bodies in Yerevan and submit proposals for amending
it. This will, undoubtedly, lead to political consequences, but the
0D motivation cannot be a political one, it should be exceptionally
professional," he added.

As for the activity of the Public Council, Khosrov Harutyunyan said
it could become the platform where specialists not included in state
governance bodies could participate in public lie by working out
professional proposals on this or that issue. These proposals may
overlap with or contradict the position of the government. However,
it’s no important, according to Khosrov Harutyunyan. "The most
important is that, actually, the society gets an opportunity to get
involved in the process of working out important decisions," he said.