Monday, February 5, 2017 Dashnaks Call For Faster Poverty Reduction In Armenia . Nane Sahakian Armenia - Leaders of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation meet in Yerevan, 1 February 2018. The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun), President Serzh Sarkisian's junior coalition partner, has said that it remains dissatisfied with the socioeconomic situation in Armenia despite "unprecedented" GDP growth achieved last year. The pan-Armenian party's worldwide Bureau and decision-making body in Armenia reviewed the government's economic and other policies at a special joint meeting held in Yerevan late last week. A Dashnaktsutyun statement released over the weekend said they praised the government for expediting the country's transition to the parliamentary system, pursuing a "complementary" foreign policy, embarking on defense reforms and speeding up economic growth in 2017. But it also said: "Public distrust in the reforms has not yet been overcome and the pace of the country's development does not satisfy us." The government, it said, should, among other things, do more to reduce poverty, spur job creation, and "ease income polarization," take tougher anti-trust measures, and "revise" its social programs. "The number one problem # is that we did not have inclusive growth, which is different from [normal] economic growth" Suren Parsian, a representative of Dashnaktsutyun's economic research office, said on Monday. He argued that poverty in Armenia did not decline noticeably in 2017 despite a nearly 7 percent growth rate reported by the authorities. "The government must not confine itself to just simplifying and improving tax and customs administration," Parsian told reporters. "It needs to implement concrete policies so that new economic entities emerge in some sectors." The Dashnaktsutyun representative specifically made a case for liberalizing the Armenian fuel market that has long been effectively monopolized by a handful of fuel-importing companies owned by government-linked individuals. Parsian made clear at the same time that his party believes Prime Minister Karen Karapetian's cabinet is on the right track. Dashnaktsutyun, which is particularly influential in the worldwide Armenian Diaspora, is represented in the government by three ministers in line with a power-sharing agreement reached with Sarkisian two years ago. It won 7 seats in the country's 105-member parliament elected in April 2017. U.S. Mission Alarmed By Death Threats Against Armenian Editor . Karlen Aslanian Armenia -- Medialab.am editor Marianna Grigorian speaks in Yerevan, 2Feb2018. The U.S. Embassy in Yerevan expressed concern on Sunday at death threats that have been made against the editor of an Armenian media outlet critical of the government. "Attacks on the media, such as those advocating harm to the director of MediaLab recently, are an anathema to a free press that is vital to democracy," the embassy wrote on its Twitter page. The editor, Marianna Grigorian, received the threats on Facebook after her MediaLab.am publication posted on January 28 a cartoon that mocked Defense Minister Vigen Sargsian in connection with a recent large-scale purchase of flowers for the Armenian Defense Ministry. "Don't you think that you've gone over the top?" a Facebook user commented on Grigorian's page before warning the MediaLab staff to avoid the fate of the French satirical weekly "Charlie Hebdo" that was attacked by Islamist gunmen in January 2015. The terrorist attack left 12 people dead and 11 others wounded. According to Grigorian, the user using the name "Hayk Berman Ohanyan" continued to threaten her with private messages sent in the following days. In of those messages, he hinted that her young daughter's safety is also at risk. Grigorian stopped sending the girl to school as a result. The editor was summoned and questioned by the Yerevan police on Friday after lodging a complaint with Armenia's Office of the Prosecutor-General. A police spokesman told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) on Monday that law-enforcement authorities are conducting an investigation but refused to give any details. It was not clear whether they have identified the person who made the death threats. Grigorian insisted, meanwhile, that "Ordyan" is not a fake user and that the police should be able to track him down. She said she has managed to find the man's phone number. Opposition Bloc Holds Another Rally Against Price Hikes . Karlen Aslanian Armenia - The opposition Yelk alliance holds a demonstration in Yerevan, 5 February 2018. Hundreds of people rallied in Yerevan on Monday as the opposition Yelk alliance continued to campaign for major tax cuts which it says are needed for reversing recent increases in the prices of fuel and some foodstuffs. Addressing the protesters, Yelk leaders again blamed the price hikes on government-drafted legislation that raised excise taxes collected from fuel, tobacco and alcohol. The fuel prices rose by over 10 percent immediately after it went into force on January 1. The new Tax Code also raised income taxes for Armenians earning well above the average wage in the country. Yelk wants to have this scrapped as well, saying that the authorities should boost their tax revenue by cracking down on tax evasion and corruption instead. "We demand that the tax rates be brought back to the pre-January levels," one of the bloc's leaders, Nikol Pashinian, said through a megaphone as the crowd marched through downtown Yerevan. He and other Yelk leaders announced that they have drafted corresponding amendments to the Tax Code which they hope will be debated at an emergency session of the Armenian parliament. They said they will start collecting signatures for that purpose in the National Assembly on Tuesday. Yelk, which controls 9 of the 105 parliament seats, needs the backing of at least 27 lawmakers in order to force such a parliament debate. It remains to be seen whether it will be backed by the Tsarukian Bloc, the other opposition group represented in the parliament. "We hope that we will collect the necessary 27 signatures and the extraordinary session will take place next week," Pashinian told the protesters after the march. He did not say what Yelk will do if it fails to collect them. Nor did he announce a date for the next anti-government rally. Yelk staged its first protest against the price hikes on January 19, attracting only several hundred protesters. Monday's demonstration was hardly bigger. Its organizers repeatedly urged more Armenians to join the campaign. "The authorities must see that they are in trouble if they are to take real steps," said Pashinian. "Prices hikes will continue until the authorities see that Armenia's citizens say no to them in a tangible and visible way." Another Yelk leader, Edmon Marukian, downplayed the relatively poor attendance at the rally, saying that the opposition alliance will also use the parliament "platform" to keep the government under pressure. "We are taking multifaceted actions," he told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). The ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) has a comfortable majority in the parliament and can easily block any opposition bill. Prime Minister Karen Karapetian downplayed last month the socioeconomic impact of the higher prices of fuel and products such as meat, butter and potatoes, saying that inflation in Armenia remains low. Karapetian also defended the higher income tax rates, saying that the government needs more revenue to boost its expenditures. Other government officials have said that the more progressive tax will put a heavier financial burden only on high-income individuals. They argue that 90 percent of working Armenians will not have any additional sums deducted from their wages. Press Review (Saturday, February 3) "Zhoghovurd" claims that the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) is trying to "blackmail" President Serzh Sarkisian into giving it more government posts. The paper points to a statement released after a February 1 meeting in Yerevan of Dashnaktsutyun's leadership. It says that Dashnaktsutyun will "forget" demands contained in the statement if it does manage to get more ministerial or other positions. Interviewed by "Aravot," Vartan Harutiunian, a human rights activist, says that Serzh Sarkisian's choice of next Armenian president, Armen Sarkissian, is "detached from and alien to" the Armenian political environment because he has lived and worked in Britain for almost 30 years. Besides, he says, the next president "will not really be a president and nothing will depend on him." He says that Armenia will have instead a "super prime minister" who will be far more powerful than any other state official in the country. Charles Tannock, a British member of the European Parliament, tells "168 Zham" that the European Union's legislative body and member states will not take too long to ratify the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with Armenia signed in November. "I think that everything will be done in due course," he is quoted as saying. Tannock argues that the CEPA was signed in Brussels only four years after Yerevan effectively killed a planned Association Agreement with the EU. "Zhamanak" says that authorities in South Ossetia have declared that Russia and Georgia cannot open any transport corridors passing through the breakaway territory without their involvement and consent. The paper speculates that Moscow is behind that statement which it says precludes the implementation of a Russian-Georgian transport agreement strongly supported by Armenia. (Tatev Danielian) Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL Copyright (c) 2018 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc. 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org