No Nation is Being Generous When Holding Such Positions: Styopa Safaryan

Political scientist Styopa Safaryan has commented on his Facebook page regarding the reports of certain regional governors in Armenia granting bonuses to themselves and their staff.

In particular, he stated:

“From now on, let all representatives and leaders of ‘My Step’ clarify any issue regarding bonuses or whatever, using the term ‘not prohibited by law,’ while always remembering that any of their actions must also correspond to the logic of the coalition’s proclaimed motto: ‘Happy individuals, caring society, strong state.’

As long as a significant portion of your society is poor, there are hungry and malnourished children in the country, patients in need of urgent or necessary medical treatment, numerous people earning below the average wage, and many others completely without jobs, those working with governors, deputies, ministers, and representatives who receive several hundred thousand drams in salary have no right to complain.

No one is being generous to the nation while holding such positions; there should be no encouragement for officials to feel happy that they are rewarding themselves. It is not the public that should be caring towards officials, but rather the opposite.

They should also remember that being non-corrupt is a duty and a legal requirement, and being so does not grant any additional rights, such as rewarding oneself or loved ones. Cutting costs in any spending area does not mean they have the right to purchase expensive goods or services or reward themselves with the saved money.

Most importantly, until the aforementioned serious issues are resolved, everyone needs to live and work modestly and without complaint, in order to create a ‘Happy individual, caring society, strong state.’ Laws may not prohibit many things, but one’s own promises, plans, and slogans prohibit a lot and will continue to do so.

As they say, any unnecessary noise was due to deviating from the proclaimed slogan and noticing it.