Monday, November 6, 2017 Ruling Party Again Dominates Local Elections In Armenia . Karine Simonian . Nare Stepanian . Anush Muradian Armenia - Residents of Achajur village vote in local elections, 5Nov2017. Amid a continuing lack of interest shown by opposition parties, the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) dominated local elections held in 69 communities across the country at the weekend. More than 30 of those communities were only recently incorporated into single administrative entities, each of them having previously consisted of several villages. It was the first election of their new mayors and local councils. According to preliminary official results released on Monday, mayoral candidates nominated or endorsed by the HHK prevailed in at least 37 communities, including more than a dozen towns. They ran unopposed in several of those towns. In another town, Goris, the Republican incumbent mayor was only nominally challenged by a non-partisan candidate, Samvel Harutiunian. The barely campaigned and did not even cast a ballot on election day. Speaking to RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am), Harutiunian called the Goris vote a "charade" and accused the HHK of again abusing its administrative resources. The HHK dominance was so strong that in some communities members of the party headed by President Serzh Sarkisian challenged each other. The HHK's junior coalition partner, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun), fielded three candidates in the local polls. Two of them were reportedly elected heads of rural communities. Armenia's second largest parliamentary force, which is led by businessman Gagik Tsarukian and claims to be in opposition to President Sarkisian, had only seven mayoral candidates. Three of them won in their respective communities. None of the other Armenian opposition groups chose to join the electoral race, reflecting their lack of financial resources and strong regional chapters. Opposition leaders have long claimed that the outcomes of local elections are essentially decided by vote buying, use of administrative resources and other irregularities. The established opposition showed much stronger interest in municipal elections that were held in Yerevan in April 2017 and Gyumri and Vanadzor, the country's second and third largest cities, a year ago. The opposition Yelk bloc monitored Sunday's polls through its representatives sitting on election commissions. A senior Yelk member, Davit Khazhakian, claimed on Monday that many voters were pressurized or bribed into backing various wealthy candidates. Armenia - A man in Odzun village appears to give guidance to an elderly voter, 5Nov2017. An RFE/RL correspondent reported from Odzun, a large village in the northern Lori province, that many elderly voters were guided by other individuals as they entered polling booths. Election officials there said those voters claim to have eye problems and require "assistance." "I just can't refuse to allow others to help them," said Suren Papikian, the Yelk-affiliated chairman of one of Odzun's two precinct commissions. Barsegh Ayvazian, a non-partisan candidate narrowly defeated by the incumbent community mayor, on Monday demanded a vote recount. Tension ran high in the southeastern Vayots Dzor province where another newly consolidated community comprising several villages elected its new chief executive. Dozens of local residents blocked a nearby highway on Monday in protest against the official vote results that gave victory to an HHK candidate. They charged that the latter won as a result of vote buying. The protesters were supporters of a defeated candidate, who has run one of those villages until now. One of Sunday's most competitive contests was in Achajur, a rural community in the northern Tavush village. A 39-year-old owner of a village grocery store representing the HHK defeated Achajur's incumbent mayor and two other candidates. His rivals appeared to concede defeat. "This is a rare election after which there is no talk of vote bribes, brute force or other coercion," the head of a regional election commission in Tavush, Gagik Abovian, told RFE/RL's Armenian service. Government Defends Caps On Social Spending . Astghik Bedevian Armenia - Labor and Social Affairs Minister Artem Asatrian speaks in the Armenian parliament in Yerevan, 6Nov2017. Labor and Social Affairs Minister Artem Asatrian defended on Monday the Armenian government's decision not to raise public sector salaries and pensions next year despite a planned rise in its overall expenditures. The draft state budget approved by the government in late September calls for over 1.46 trillion drams ($3.1 billion) in total expenditure, up by 7.6 percent from the government's 2017 spending target. Most of the extra spending would be channeled into various infrastructure projects. By contrast, the 2018 budget would practically not increase public spending on social programs. Prime Minister Karen Karapetian and other officials have said that increased spending on capital projects is a better way to ease socioeconomic hardship as it would stimulate economic activity in the country. Asatrian echoed these arguments at a meeting with standing committees of the Armenian parliament that focused on the draft 2018 budget. Their opposition members strongly criticized the government's reluctance to spend more on salaries, pensions and poverty benefits, which were most recently raised in 2015. Asatrian insisted that the government cannot opt for more such rises for now without additional borrowing that would only add to Armenia's mounting public debt. "Raising pensions by just 1,000 drams would require an extra 5 billion drams in spending," he said. The opposition lawmakers were unconvinced, however. Nikol Pashinian, a leader of the Yelk alliance, said stagnant pensions and salaries mean lower living standards and greater poverty. "The biggest impact on poverty reduction comes from economic growth," said Asatrian. "This budget will not reduce poverty," countered Pashinian. "The people's social plight is worsening," Gevorg Petrosian of the Tsarukian Bloc said for his part. Deputy Finance Minister Atom Janjughazian denied Petrosian's claim. He said that unemployment in Armenia fell from 19 percent to 17.8 percent in the first half of this year. According to government projections, economic growth, which all but ground to a half in 2016, will reach 4.3 percent this year and 4.5 percent in 2018. Education Minister Hails Scrapping Of Draft Deferments . Ruzanna Stepanian Armenia - Education Minister Levon Mkrtchian at a news conference in Yerevan, 22Sep2017. The upcoming abolition of most remaining military draft deferments enjoyed by university students is fair and will not harm higher education in Armenia, Education Minister Levon Mkrtchian said on Monday. Mkrtchian said the measure will also reduce corruption among officials in and outside state-run universities who are in a position to make male students eligible for government scholarships. Such students have until now been allowed to perform two-year military service, compulsory in Armenia, after completing their undergraduate, graduate or post-graduate studies. A government bill passed by the Armenian parliament in the first reading late last month will largely scrap these temporary exemptions. It will grant draft deferments only to those students who will agree to undergo parallel military training and serve in the army as officers for three years after graduation. The measure was strongly criticized by the opposition Yelk alliance. Lawmakers representing the bloc claimed that it will prevent many students from becoming scientists or scholars. They said it will also not stop the sons of many senior government officials, pro-government politicians and wealthy businesspeople from dodging military service. The main official rationale for the bill drafted by the Armenian Defense Ministry is that it will close a key loophole for evading military service and reduce "corruption risks" among military and university officials. "This law will greatly eliminate the risk of corruption," agreed Mkrtchian. Mkrtchian also insisted that it will not hamper the development of science and scholarship in the country. In an apparent reference to Israel, he argued that science and technology has "peaked" in other countries that have not had draft deferments. Besides, he told reporters, "if we look at who has pursued and obtained doctoral degrees [in Armenia] and how many of them have stayed in science, we won't see a nice picture." The minister also asserted that drafting some students and letting others continue their studies uninterrupted is inherently unfair. He argued that more than 80 percent of 18-year-old Armenian men enrolled in state universities are already drafted to the armed forces just because they have to pay tuition fees. Critics say that students who have wealthy or influential parents will find other ways of evading draft. The bill will likely be debated in the second and final reading next week. If passed, it will come into effect in January 2021, meaning that it will not apply to students who have already been granted deferments. Press Review (Saturday, November 4) "Zhoghovurd" is unimpressed by President Serzh Sarkisian's calls for Indian companies to invest in Armenia and take advantage of the country's membership in the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), which he made during a working visit to New Delhi. The paper argues that EEU member states like Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are geographically closer to India than Armenia. "Besides, there are no transport routes to Armenia," it says. "Haykakan Zhamanak" looks at implications of the November 1 meeting of the Iranian, Russian and Azerbaijani presidents held in Tehran. The three leaders reaffirmed their commitment to a North-South corridor that will boost rail communication between them. The paper alleges that this corridor is "rendering meaningless" Armenia's ambition to serve as a transit link for cargo shipments from the Persian Gulf to the Black Sea. It says the Armenian highways stretching from the Iranian to the Georgian borders, which are now undergoing major repairs, will be underused. "Most of the traffic will pass through Azerbaijan's territory," "Zhamanak" quotes Vartan Yeghiazarian, a deputy chief of the national police service, as saying that that the law-enforcement agency will be directly subordinate to Armenia's prime minister after the country completes its transition to the parliamentary system of government in April. The paper wonders whether that statement made on Friday was coordinated with President Serzh Sarkisian. It says that a prime minister directly controlling the Armenian police would have greater political clout. "For which prime minister is that [change of subordination] being done?" it asks. "Aravot" carries an editorial on upcoming local elections to be held in mostly rural communities across Armenia. "Hardly anyone doubts who will win those elections," writes the paper. "Opposition parties decided not to enter the fray. `Good guys' from [Gagik Tsarukian's] BHK will win in several communities, while Republican `good guys' will make up the vast majority of town and village mayors. The names of parties are absolutely unimportant # Even so, the opposition's non-participation is weird. That fact testifies to not only a lack of money or regional chapters but the laziness and indifference [of opposition groups.] Yes, it is almost impossible to achieve success [in Armenian local elections] but not trying to do that, not communicating with citizens is a wrong tactic." (Elen Chilingarian) 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