Friday, June 2, 2017 First Lady Coy About Armenian President's Political Future . Artak Hambardzumian Armenia - President Serzh Sarkisian, his wife Rita and other dignitaries at an award ceremony in Yerevan, 28May2017. The wife of Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian on Friday declined to clarify what he plans to do after completing his second and final term in office next year. "I didn't want him to become president in the first place. I didn't want him to be on the political arena," Rita Sarkisian told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am), commenting on lingering speculation that he may become prime minister in April 2018. When asked whether she wants him to retire from the political scene, she said: "I want to have a rest." Asked whether that depends on Sarkisian's political plans, she replied: "Yes and no. We'll see." The first lady also insisted that she never given her husband political advice. "I don't like women who advise their husbands," she said. "How can I advise him? I don't like that. I would never do that. And I would not respect a man who would take my advice on the job." Sarkisian himself has shed little light on his political future so far. He said in March that he would like to "play a role, in some capacity, in ensuring the security of our people" after the end of his decade-long presidency. Armenia will switch to a parliamentary system of government from April 2018, meaning that its next president will be elected by parliament and have largely ceremonial powers. Armenia -- Frst Lady Rita Sarkisian speaks to RFE/RL in Yerevan, 2June, 2017. Rita Sarkisian spoke to RFE/RL's Armenian service while visiting a Yerevan hospital specializing in treatment of children suffering from various types of blood cancer. A charity headed by her has for years provided financial assistance to it. The first lady complained of declining donations to the charity called Donate Life. "Three or four years ago we raised half a million dollars for this hospital," said the former music teacher. "The following year that figure dropped to $300,000. This year we have only $100,000." "But that's OK," she went on. "We'll learn that culture [of benevolence] little by little." Still No Charges In Armenian Election Scandal . Astghik Bedevian Armenia - Armenians vote in parliamentary elections at a polling station in Yerevan, 2Apr2017. Law-enforcement authorities have not charged anyone yet more than one month after launching an investigation into a secretly recorded audio suggesting that employees of a pro-government businessman were warned to help him get reelected to Armenia's parliament or lose their jobs. The recording posted on Hayastan24.com features the voice of a man threatening to fire those employees of Artak Sargsian's SAS supermarket chain in Yerevan who have failed to guarantee in writing that their friends and relatives will vote for their boss. The man also promises lavish bonuses to their colleagues who will "bring votes" to the candidate of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK). The news website said that the SAS staff meeting took place in the run-up to the April 2 parliamentary elections won by the HHK. Sargsian, who was reelected to the National Assembly, has since refused to comment on the audio and the resulting political scandal. Opposition politicians and other critics of the Armenian government seized upon the revelation as further proof that public and private sector employees across the country were illegally pressurized to vote for the HHK. In an April 3 statement, European election monitors likewise reported "pressure on civil servants and employees of private companies" Responding to the uproar, Armenia's Special Investigative Service (SIS) said on April 19 that it has opened a criminal case in connection with the scandalous audio. An SIS spokesperson told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) on Friday that the law-enforcement agency is still questioning relevant individuals and has not levelled criminal charges against anyone so far. The official refused to give any details of the investigation. Civic activists dismissed this explanation. Heriknaz Tigranian, a legal expert with the Armenian affiliate of Transparency International, insisted that the SIS has had enough time to identify the secretly recorded individuals. "They know how to conduct forensic tests to identify people's voices," she said. Tigranian said she suspects that the authorities are dragging out the probe with the aim of eventually closing the case for a supposed lack of evidence. "Had the authorities had the political will to solve such organized crimes, Artak Sargsian would not have run for parliament in the first place," charged Artur Sakunts, a human rights activist. According to the Hetq.am investigative publication, the man who purportedly threatened to fire SAS employees is Sargsian's elder brother Aram. Karabakh Says Another War Unlikely . Hovannes Movsisian Nagorno-Karabakh - Karabakh Armenian troops fire rounds from a howitzer in the Martakert district, 3Apr2016. Continuing ceasefire violations along the Armenian-Azerbaijani "line of contact" around Nagorno-Karabakh are unlikely to escalate into a full-scale war, a senior official in Stepanakert insisted on Friday. "Although the war can break out at any moment, its likelihood is low," said Davit Babayan, the deputy chief of staff of Bako Sahakian, the Karabakh president. "Why? Because Azerbaijan spent 22 years getting ready to start the four-day war of April 2016. And it got ready for a blitzkrieg," he told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). "Only one year has passed [since the April 2016 war.] Given so many [Azerbaijani] casualties and the clear position of the international community, I don't think that another war is possible now," added Babayan. The four-day hostilities mentioned by the Karabakh Armenian official marked the worst fighting in the conflict since a Russian-mediated truce stopped the Armenian-Azerbaijani war for the disputed territory in 1994. They left at least 190 soldiers from both warring sides dead. In a report published on Thursday, the International Crisis Group (ICG), a Brussels-based think-tank, warned of a serious risk of renewed heavy fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces. "A year after Nagorno-Karabakh's April 2016 violent flare-up, Armenia and Azerbaijan are closer to war than at any point since the 1994 ceasefire," it said, calling for more vigorous international efforts to broker a peaceful solution to the conflict. Babayan dismissed this conclusion, arguing that the ICG did not predict the April 2016 hostilities. "It does not reflect the reality," he said of the report. Truce violations along "the line of contact" have periodically intensified over past year. In the most recent escalation, Azerbaijani forces fired guided missiles at an air-defense system of Karabakh's Armenian-backed Defense Army on May 16. The latter retaliated with mortar fire targeting Azerbaijani military facilities across the frontline. The U.S., Russian and French mediators co-heading the OSCE Minsk Group condemned the "significant violations of the ceasefire." In a May 18 statement, they urged the parties to "take all necessary measures to prevent any further escalation in the conflict zone." Another Russian Firm Seeks To Leave Armenian Energy Sector . Emil Danielyan Armenia - One of the hydroelectric plants making up the Sevan-Hrazdan Cascade. A state-owned Russian company, RusHydro, has reaffirmed its intention to sell off Armenia's second most important hydroelectric complex belonging to it. The sale of the Sevan-Hrazdan Cascade would further reduce the presence of Kremlin-controlled companies in the Armenian energy sector heavily dependent on Russian gas and nuclear fuel. The Soviet-era facility consists of seven hydroelectric plants built along the Hrazdan river flowing through central Armenia. It accounts for roughly 10 percent of Armenian electricity output. The Armenian government handed over ownership of the Sevan-Hrazdan Cascade to Russia in 2003 in payment for the Metsamor nuclear plant's massive debts Russian nuclear fuel suppliers. RusHydro acquired it from another state-run Russian firm in 2011. Russian media reported in 2015 that the energy giant, which operates most of Russia's hydroelectric plants, is now prepared to sell its Armenian subsidiary. The TASS news agency quoted RusHydro's chief executive, Nikolay Shulginov, as saying on Thursday that his company has been negotiating with potential buyers. "One of them emerged but then vanished," he said. "Another one has now popped up. We are now holding [negotiations.]" Shulginov declined to name those companies or disclose RusHydro's possible asking price for Sevan-Hrazdan. Another Russian energy conglomerate, Inter RAO, essentially pulled out of Armenia in late 2015, selling the country's debt-ridden electricity distribution network and largest thermal power plant to the Tashir Group of Samvel Karapetian, a Russian-Armenian billionaire. RusHydro's withdrawal would leave only one Kremlin-controlled company, Gazprom, owning a power-generating facility in Armenia: a thermal power plant in the central town of Hrazdan. Gazprom is also the country's principal supplier of natural gas. Gas is used for generating around one-third of Armenia's electricity. The Metsamor power plant and hydroelectric facilities meet the rest of its energy needs. The Armenian authorities now seem keen to diversify foreign ownership in the domestic energy sector. More than a year ago they sold Armenia's largest and most modern hydroelectric complex, the Vorotan Hydropower Cascade, to the U.S. company ContourGlobal in a $250 million deal strongly backed by the U.S. government. And in March this year, an Italian company started building a new thermal power plant in Yerevan. Press Review In a commentary on International Children's Day marked on June 1, "Haykakan Zhamanak" says that children in Armenia should first and foremost be protected against "social blows." "Tens of thousands of children are poor, and this means that not only their present but also future is in danger," writes the paper. "For malnutrition, poor living conditions and a lack of education and leisure opportunities deprive the children of their ability to develop their potential in full." "Zhoghovurd" reports that the newly appointed Justice Minister Davit Harutiunian on Thursday called for a stronger government oversight of government grants allocated to non-governmental organizations. In particular, Harutiunian said that from now on such NGOs will have to detail their concrete programs financed by the government and present detailed reports on their implementation. The paper says that Armenian governments have never done this before. "It is obvious that the authorities decided to introduce oversight mechanisms not willingly but under pressure from the European Union following the well-known scandal over misappropriation of [EU] grants," it claims. "Zhamanak" says that when President Serzh Sarkisian promised following last July's Erebuni hostage crisis to form a government of "national accord" many felt that then Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamian's and his government's days are numbered. "This is what eventually happened," the paper says. "But the government formed by [the current Prime Minister] Karen Karapetian hasnothing to do with national accord in terms of both political content and agenda. One is left to presume that Sarkisian circulated the idea for another occasion and most probably for his personal use. The course of events shows that this is the case." It notes that Armen Rustamian, a leader of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun), stated recently that his party will not object if Sarkisian becomes prime minister next year. (Lilit Harutiunian) 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