Wednesday, Ruling Party To Dominate New Parliament Body . Ruzanna Stepanian Armenia -- Parliament majority leader Vahram Baghdasarian speaks to RFE/RL's Armenian service, Yerevan, 12Oct2016 President Serzh Sarkisian's ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK), which enjoys a majority in the current parliament, will also dominate a new body to be established in it as part of the recent reform. "An individual's role will also be reduced in the parliament," HHK parliamentary faction leader Vahram Baghdasarian said in an interview with RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am), commenting on the planned establishment of a National Assembly Council. According to the revised Law on the National Assembly Regulations, the National Assembly will have a Council that will have broad powers vested in it. This body composed of the parliament speaker, his deputies, one representative from each standing committee and parliamentary faction will approve the draft agendas of regular sessions of the National Assembly, turn to the Constitutional Court on the matter of terminating the powers of a lawmaker, approve the accreditation of journalists and the conduct of press briefings and press conferences in parliament. Decisions at the Council are to be made through voting. According to the law, the Council shall meet on Mondays during regular sessions at a time set by the parliament speaker. Baghdasarian, who will represent the HHK in the Council, believes this body will raise the efficiency of the National Assembly's work. The HHK and its junior coalition partner, Dashnaktsutyun, are expected to have a majority in this body: 11 of the 17 members of the Council are to represent the pro-government majority. "We are trying to reduce the role of an individual in all spheres, including in the National Assembly, giving preference to more collegial bodies so that decisions are made as a result of discussions," the leader of the HHK parliamentary faction explained. According to Baghdasarian, meetings of the Council will be open for journalists. As for the majority that the ruling party will have in the Council, Baghdasarian said: "It wasn't us who determined this. This was decided as a result of the elections. People determined that. If a stable majority was formed as a result of the elections, then the political force that assumes responsibility for the country should play a hegemonic role. I consider it illogical if we assume responsibility and let others make the decisions." Edmon Marukian, of the opposition Yelk faction, said that with only one representative in the new Council they will have no influence on the vote. "We will have our voice there# But it is clear that we will have no influence during the voting. We, of course, will try to have some impact by our arguments, but at the level of voting they can vote the way they want. And what happened in the chamber will happen there as well," said Marukian. Meanwhile, the second largest parliamentary faction represented by the Tsarukian Alliance considers the formation of the Council to be progress. Yet, member of the alliance, Deputy Speaker Mikael Melkumian, who is also included in the Council, is not rushing to make conclusions as to whether the opposition that will be a minority in the body will be able to have any degree of influence in decision-making. "I consider the formation of this Council to be a step forward at least for the reason that in terms of decision-making it will ensure its collegial nature," Melkumian said. Opposition Alliance Reports Election-Related Crime . Sisak Gabrielian Armenia - Nikol Pashinian (C) and Edmon Marukian (R), leaders o the opposition Yelk alliance, campaign for mayoral elections in Yerevan, 21Apr2017. An opposition alliance has asked authorities to look into some alleged evidence suggesting that vote buying by Armenia's ruling party during municipal elections in Yerevan earlier this month had a "systematized and centralized" nature. Head of the parliamentary faction of the opposition Yelk alliance Nikol Pashinian on Wednesday enclosed with the application to the prosecutor-general some documents that were found in the garbage can near one of the campaign offices of the Republican Party of Armenia (HHK). (Hence, the documents in Armenia are known as ZibiLeaks). The documents in question, Yelk says, mention the sums of money and services rendered in concrete addresses as well as instructions for campaigners for the organization of the process of distributing money among citizens. According to the opposition bloc, police were also involved in this process, as one of the documents was faxed from a telephone number belonging to the police. Yelk MP Edmon Marukian said that they will be consistent in ensuring that prosecutors open proceedings into the case and punish those responsible. "We have collected this evidence and have vowed to be consistent," he said. Yelk polled 21 percent in the May 14 municipal elections and will form the second largest faction in Yerevan's Council of Elders. The HHK swept the elections with over 71 percent and its top candidate Taron Markarian retained his mayoral position. The HHK has all along denied it ever offered cash or services to voters. Postanjian Appeals Election Body's Decision In Administrative Court . Hovannes Movsisian Armenia -- Leader of the Yerkir Tsirani party Zaruhi Postanjian, Yerevan, 24May2017 Leader of the opposition Yerkir Tsirani party Zaruhi Postanjian on Wednesday filed an action with the administrative court to annul the results of the May 14 municipal elections in Yerevan. Yerkir Tsirani finished third in the race of three political forces with 8 percent of the vote and will have five members in the 65-seat Council of Elders dominated by the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK). Last week the opposition party appealed the results of the vote at the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) demanding that it annul the outcome of the elections due to "large-scale fraud implemented by the HHK with the assistance of police officers" that, according to the party, included vote buying, guidance of voters, as well as violence against Postanjian and her proxy. The CEC turned down the application, arguing that no evidence was provided to substantiate Yerkir Tsirani's claim. After submitting her claim to the administrative court, Postanjian again insisted in an interview with RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) that the HHK won the elections due to fraud and pressure on voters. "Citizens did not have the opportunity to exercise their voting right, and some, being intimidated, did not even participate in the elections," Postanjian claimed. "Because for them it was clear that if a mayoral candidate and a proxy can be subjected to violence, then how can it be an election?" Postanjian, who ran for mayor in the May 14 ballot, personally went to one of HHK campaign offices located in HHK candidate, incumbent mayor Taron Markarian's home district of Avan on the day of the voting to expose what she claimed was a vote buying scheme. Along with her daughter, Lilit Drampian, who also acted as her proxy she was forced out of the HHK premises by police officers called in by ruling party activists. In a statement released shortly after the incident Postanjian, then a member of the National Assembly, claimed violence was used against her and her daughter, who suffered a concussion. She also deplored the lack of response from appropriate law-enforcement bodies to the incident. The Special Investigative Service of Armenia later launched two probes in connection with the incident. Representatives of the HHK deny using any vote buying or pressuring voters in any elections, insisting that the votes garnered by the party show that it remains the most popular political force in Armenia. Press Review "Zhamanak" suggests that President Serzh Sarkisian's unwillingness to speak about his political plans prompts that not everything is under his control. "The actions of Sarkisian reveal his goal - not to allow anyone to understand what he is doing. This is not an action or tactic of a person who keeps the situation under his control. But, however strange that may seem, due to this Sarkisian manages to control the situation or create a full imitation of keeping the situation under control," the paper writes. "Haykakan Zhamanak" writes: "According to the official data published by the National Statistical Service, during the first four months of this year, as compared to the same period of 2016, construction volumes in Armenia decreased by 13.4 percent. And this is in the case when last year, as compared to 2015, construction volumes dropped by 7.4 percent. Construction is usually considered to be a mirror of the economic situation. In other words, if the economy is active, construction is active too. Even though during the past six or seven years some "bright" economic results have been posted in Armenia, the construction sector has never recovered. And this means that other economic indicators were simply artificial." (Anush Mkrtchian) Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL Copyright (c) 2017 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc. 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org