News.am

Armenian Opposition goes on offensive
13:18 / 08/22/2009

Domestic policy

This week the ad hoc parliamentary commission set up to investigate
the tragic events in Yerevan on March 1-2, 2008, has stated its
readiness to present a final report at the RA Parliament’s session
early this autumn. Commission Chairman Samvel Nikoyan’s statement was
followed by that of the commission member Artsvik Minasyan. The latter
voiced hope for a favorable public response as the document `will
contain rather impartial appraisals of police actions.’ However, both
commission members’ statements made it clear that the most important
question – the one concerning the death of ten people – would remain
unanswered. The reason is that both the ruling coalition
representatives and the `newly-fledged’ opposition represented by the
Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) are unanimously stating the
matter is within the investigative body’s terms of reference. The
recent reports on the forthcoming presentation of a final report will
afford the opposition one more opportunity to justify its
nonparticipation in the commission’s activities as its `main mission
has been concealing the causes and facts of the tragic events on March
1, 2008.’ Incidentally, Andranik Kocharyan, who represented the
opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC) at the dissolved
fact-finding group, doubts the ad hoc commission has prepared a
comprehensive and in-depth report. According to him, the commission
had too little time to examine the materials provided to it by two
opposition members.
The ANC is trying to keep domestic political passions up while the
summer holidays are coming to their end. The ANC has found a new
formula for political activities: during several weeks the Opposition
leaders visited the families of the Opposition activists under arrest
in the Armenian regions. Armenia’s first president Levon
Ter-Petrosyan, Chairman of the People’s Party of Armenia (PPA) Stepan
Demirchyan and Chairman of the Republic Party Aram Sargsyan paid a
significant visit to Ijevan, to the parental home of Nikol Pashinyan,
Editor-in-Chief of the Haykakan Zhamanak newspaper, who gave himself
up to the authorities on July 1.
During the visit the ANC leader Ter-Petrosyan once against expressed
the confidence that a change of power is inevitable in Armenia. This
Thursday, the administration of the Yerevan-Center penitentiary
institution reportedly violated Pashinyan’s rights. In particular, the
head of the institution Nelson Zakaryan did not allow Pashinyan’s
lawyer Tigran Muradyan to hand newspapers to his client. Talking to
NEWS.am, Muradyan said that the reason is Pashinyan’s article about
the administration of the penitentiary institution. Muradyan said he
visits his client every day except for Saturday and Sunday. He had no
problems with supplying Pashinyan with newspapers until August 20. But
now the administration claim only they can offer newspapers to the
arrestees. It is noteworthy that, under the Armenian law, arrestees
can read any newspapers.
The former party-mates’ hurt feelings have surged up once again this
week. The former candidate for the post of Yerevan Mayor, ARF member
Artsvik Minasyan harshly criticized Yerevan Mayor Gagik Beglaryan and
his team. According to him, the Yerevan administration has nothing in
common with the Armenian Constitution or with local government bodies
formed under international law. Moreover, Minasyan said, the Yerevan
Municipality does not consider either the people’s will or opinion,
nor does it keep its election promises. Minasyan’s statements should
be viewed in the context of the ARF’s `stock attempts’ to gain a firm
ground in the opposition political arena, which do not yet enjoy
success with the opposition voters. Also, the ARF, which claimed
numerous violations in the elections to the municipal elections,
though represented at all the election commissions, did not launch a
struggle against election rigging.
Nagorno-Karabakh peace process and region

The leader of the opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC) Levon
Ter-Petrosyan made an important statement on the Nagorno-Karabakh
peace process. According to him, `Armenia’s incumbent authorities have
already ceded Nagorno-Karabakh.’ RA President Serzh Sargsyan must
resign for the Armenian side not to lose Nagorno-Karabakh,
Ter-Petrosyan said. He expressed the confidence that the present
political situation will not last long as his return to politics has
formed a strong civil society in the country – a society that is not
going to put up with the authorities-imposed conditions.
The ARF representative Giro Manoyan made a number of pessimistic
forecasts for the negotiating process. He expressed the confidence
that both Azerbaijan and Armenia want to say `no’ to the framework
agreements under preparation. The matter is which of them will be the
first to do so. According to Manoyan, the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs
will do their best to get consent to the Madrid Principles from
official Yerevan and Baku before October 14, when the Armenian and
Turkish national football teams are to play a match. `Late this
September the co-chairs will present a revised version of the Madrid
document for the counties to either consent to or reject it,’ Manoyan
told a press conference.
Zhirair Sefilyan, the head of the Union of Armenian Volunteers,
welcomed the Republic of Artsakh action group formed in the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR). He regards as inadmissible a policy
of forming two Armenian states. Sefilyan is sure that it has not
impressed the international community. He once again pronounced for
the unification of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, reminding the
journalists that the Movement’s slogan was `Miatsum’ (Unification) in
1988, not `Independence’.
The Republic of Artsakh action group formed in Hadrut,
Nagorno-Karabakh, in mid July pronounced for the liberated territories
to be declared a zone of vital national interests. The group also
stated the necessity for a national special-purpose fund to deal with
the settlement of the territories with Armenian refugees. The group is
now collecting signatures to their demands in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Experts and journalists have focused their attention on hacker attacks
on Armenian web sites, including government ones. All of sudden, there
appeared about a dozen experts that held a number of press conferences
on the present level of `cyber-dangers’ in Armenia. However, one has
the impression that it is only Armenian mass media, NGOs as well as
some experts that are concerned over Azerbaijani hackers’ more and
more frequent attacks on Armenian websites. As regards government
agencies, they have not yet expressed any clear opinion on the
problem. Moreover, immediately after some specialists pointed out the
Armenian side’s disadvantages, there appeared a couple of their
colleagues that spoke of an excessive excitement over the
problem. Finally, the debate did not provide an answer to the main
question: what are the Armenian government agencies and Internet
providers to do for the murderer Ramil Safarov’s picture not to appear
on Armenian websites any more?
This week, `in the context of the Armenian-Turkish rapprochement’,
Ankara has probably decided to launch a large-scale anti-Armenian
campaign in the United States. In his interview with Hurriyet, Kaya
Boztepe, the head of the Federation of Turkish communities, stated
that the Turkish Government intends to intensify the Turkish
community’s activities in the United States. `Our major task is to
oppose the Armenian lobby, which continues its campaign of slander
against Turkey in the United States. The Turkish community, in
cooperation with the Azerbaijani community, has done much work. But it
is not enough, and we must redouble, and even triple, our efforts in
the United States,’ Boztepe said. In engineering the anti-Armenian
campaign, Turks plan to adopt the Armenian lobby’s experience. They
believe the `enemy should be beaten with his own weapons.’

Economy and social life
After visiting India, Armenian officials arrived at the conclusion
that the country’s meat-processing enterprises do not meet sanitary
standards. At a meeting chaired by RA Premier Tigran Sargsyan, Head of
the Department for State and Legal Affairs, RA Government staff, Ashot
Vaganyan made a relevant report. He said that an Armenian government
delegation visited a number of meat-processing enterprises in
India. He pointed out that the enterprises purchased meat without any
quality control and elementary sanitary measures exercised. India
exports to Armenia buffalo meat used in sausage production. Vaganyan
pointed out that other Indian companies meet all the sanitary
standards. Premier Sargsyan stressed that Armenia must purchase meat
from companies working for at least five years, running their own
slaughter-houses and meeting all the international quality
standards. Seventeen Indian companies meeting the criteria cover 85%
of the Indian meat market. However, only 21% of the meat exported from
India to Armenia meets the standards. The only question is: why has
the Armenian Government been silent for such a long period, and won’t
the revealed facts cause damage to the Armenian meat-processing
companies? We hope that a tighter customs control ordered by the
Premier will prevent further incidents.
Armenian consumers have been faced with a prospective rise in energy
tariffs this week. At its sitting this Thursday, at Premier Tigran
Sargsyan’s suggestion, the RA Government adopted a protocol decision
on stability in the energy sector. The decision is supposed to prevent
a rise in the final energy tariffs for consumers. The Premier pointed
out the necessity for bridging the financial gap in the energy sector
at the expense of state-run enterprises, particularly the Vorotan
hydro-power plant, Yerevan heat and power plant, Armenian
nuclear-power plant and special funds. He also reported the planned
expenditure cuts. The Premier issued relevant instructions to RA
Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Armen Movsisyan and to
Chairman of the RA Public Services Regulatory Commission Robert
Nazaryan to ensure the energy sector’s financial stability. Although
the Government announced urgent measures to prevent a rise in energy
tariffs for consumers, the issue of financial gaps in the energy
sector remains unclear. Also, how successful will the Government’s
actions be?
While the family of the opposition oligarch Khachatur Sukiasyan, who
is on the list of wanteds, was preparing to claim 124 damages at the
European Court for the Bjni plant standing idle, the enterprise
resumed production. Arsen Chikchyan, the bankruptcy manager, stated
that the plant has produced 40,000 bottles since August
8. Ninety-eight workers are presently employed at the plant. The SIL
Concern, which is owned by the Sukiasyan family, told NEWS.am, that
they have nothing in common with the Bjni plant. `It is a week since
we lodged a claim with the European Court,’ the company representative
said. The Armenian authorities started persecuting the Sukiasyan
family and `pressuring’ their business after the Parliament member
Khachatur Sukiasyan openly supported the Opposition leader Levon
Ter-Petrosyan at last year’s presidential election.
Lovers of hunting, officials and oligarchs and their milieu, have been
afforded an opportunity to `hunt to satisfaction’ this week. The
Armenian Minister of Nature Protection issued a decree permitting
game-shooting and fowling in some hunting grounds.
The ministry’s press service reports that hunting quotas for hares,
foxes and some kinds of birds, have been fixed, with no limits set for
wolves and jackals.