Wednesday,
Journalists Barred From Yerevan Council After Witnessing Violence
. Anush Muradian
Armenia - Journalists interview leaders of the opposition Yerkir
Tsirani party attending a session of Yerevan's municipal council, 13
February 2018.
One week after an embarrassing brawl between pro-government and
opposition members of Yerevan's municipal council, Mayor Taron
Markarian has decided to ban reporters from attending its further
sessions.
Markarian's spokesman, Artur Gevorgian, told RFE/RL's Armenian service
(Azatutyun.am) on Wednesday that they will now be able to watch
council debates only through monitors to be placed in a separate press
room. He insisted that the measure will not restrict media coverage of
the legislature empowered to elect the city's mayor.
"You don't have to be in the council auditorium," said
Gevorgian. "That must not be seen as a restriction in any
way. Journalists will continue to move freely inside the
[municipality] building on the days of council sessions."
Markarian told his lawyers and press officers on February 19 to
propose ways of "regulating" the work of the press corps accredited by
the municipality. The order came six days after a violent clash
witnessed by a large number of reporters.
Two members of the city council representing the opposition Yerkir
Tsirani party were confronted by their pro-government colleagues when
they tried to hand Markarian glass containers filled with sewage
collected from a damaged sewer pipe in the city's Nubarashen district.
Yerkir Tsirani's Marina Khachatrian, slapped a male councilor
representing the ruling Republican Party (HHK) after being jostled by
him. The latter slapped Khachatrian while another HHK councilor puller
her hair in response. Khachatrian and two other Yerkir Tsirani
members, including the party leader Zaruhi Postanjian, were then
physically forced to leave the hall.
Postanjian and her associates have often argued with HHK councilors
during sessions of the council elected last May. Journalists have
repeatedly witnessed and reported on insults shouted by Markarian's
loyalists at the three outspoken women.
Gevorgian claimed that the mayor's decision to bar the press from
council sessions is not aimed at covering up more such incidents. He
said that the municipal administration will install more video cameras
in the chamber to ensure the transparency of proceedings. The official
noted, however, that live broadcasts of debates could be interrupted
in case of "hooliganism" on the part of councilors.
Markarian's actions following the February 13 incident have drawn
criticism from Armenia's leading media associations. The chairwoman of
the Union of Journalists of Armenia, Satik Seyranian, said they could
"impede legitimate professional activities of reporters" when she met
the mayor on Wednesday. Markarian denied creating such obstacles.
EU Pledges More Aid To Armenia
BELGIUM -- EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini (R) welcomes
Armanian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian in Brussels, February 21,
2018
The European Union announced on Wednesday that it will provide Armenia
with around 160 million euros ($197 million) in fresh assistance over
the next three years in line with a recent agreement to deepen its
relations with Yerevan.
The EU's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, and Armenian
Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian signed a document in Brussels
listing "partnership priorities" of the two sides for the coming
years.
Mogherini's office said the document will "guide" the planned EU
assistance to Armenia which will be channeled, among other areas, into
education and innovation. A statement by the office gave no further
details of the aid package.
"The European Union and Armenia are, with these Partnership
Priorities, further enhancing our already strong friendship and
cooperation," Mogherini was reported to say at the signing ceremony
held after her talks with Nalbandian.
"Combined with our new Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership
Agreement (CEPA) that we signed only three months ago at the Eastern
Partnership Summit in Brussels, we are reinforcing our joint
commitment to delivering positive results in areas that really make a
difference to peoples' lives, both in the EU and in Armenia," she
added.
Under the CEPA, the Armenian government is to carry out political
reforms and boost human rights protection. It must also gradually
"approximate" Armenian economic laws and regulations to those of the
EU.
The 350-page agreement has to be ratified by Armenia's parliament, the
EU's 28 member states and the European Parliament in order to fully
come into force. Still, some of its key provisions can be put into
practice right after the Armenian ratification expected next month.
According to the Armenian Foreign Ministry, Nalbandian and Mogherini
discussed "the implementation of a number of provisions of the
agreement after it is ratified by Armenia." The EU statement specified
that they spoke about concrete CEPA-related actions which Yerevan has
pledged to take by 2020. It also said "good governance" and "economic
development and market opportunities" will be among the main areas of
EU-Armenia cooperation.
Parliament Panel Refuses To Condemn 2008 Crackdown
. Ruzanna Stepanian
Armenia -- Relatives of people killed in the March 2008 post-election
clashes protest in downtown Yerevan, 7 April 2010.
A key committee of the Armenian parliament on Wednesday rejected an
opposition-drafted resolution condemning the use of lethal force
against opposition protesters in Yerevan in the wake of a disputed
presidential election held in 2008.
The parliamentary resolution put forward by the opposition Yelk says
that the supporters of the main opposition presidential candidate,
Levon Ter-Petrosian, protested against "the falsification" of the
results of the election that formalized the handover of power from
outgoing President Robert Kocharian to Serzh Sarkisian.
It describes as "crude and illegal" the forcible dispersal of those
protests on March 1-2 2008 which left eight protesters and two police
servicemen dead. The statement demands that law-enforcement
authorities at last identify and prosecute those responsible for the
deaths.
The authorities claim to be continuing to investigate all
circumstances of what was the worst street violence in Armenia's
history. They have at the same time defended the crackdown, saying
that it was a necessary response to "mass disturbances" organized by
Ter-Petrosian and his associates.
Not surprisingly, the parliament committee on legal affairs gave a
formal negative assessment of the Yelk motion after discussing it at a
meeting attended by Nikol Pashinian, one of Yelk's leaders. The
committee's incoming new chairman, Gevorg Kostanian, criticized the
document
Speaking at the meeting, Pashinian charged that Sarkisian came to
power "as a result of a rigged election certified by blood." He again
alleged a high-level cover-up of the 2008 killings.
Pashinian was among dozens of opposition figures who were arrested and
prosecuted on dubious charges in the wake of the deadly unrest. The
parliamentary statement proposed by Yelk also demands that Armenian
prosecutors review all of those criminal cases.
Kostanian, who served as Armenia's prosecutor-general from 2013-2016,
dismissed this demand. He said that the prosecutors would need "new
facts," not declarations, to clear the oppositionists of any
wrongdoing. Pashinian insisted that they could easily find such
evidence if they were really committed to solving the case.
Armenian Opposition Seeks Major Electoral Reform
. Astghik Bedevian
Armenia - Businessman Gagik Tsarukian attends a meeting between
President Serzh Sarkisian and Armenian parliament leaders in Yerevan,
12Jan2018.
Pro-government lawmakers spoke out on Wednesday against an opposition
proposal to change the existing legal mechanism for electing Armenia's
parliament which critics believe favors the ruling Republican Party
(HHK).
The current HHK-controlled parliament was elected last April under a
complicated system of proportional representation. Armenians voted not
only for parties or blocs but also individual candidates fielded by
them in a dozen nationwide constituencies.
The HHK greatly benefited from this system, having nominated many
wealthy and government-linked candidates in their de facto fiefdoms
across the country. Those individual candidates earned President Serzh
Sarkisian's party many votes owing to their administrative and
financial resources. The Armenian opposition and civil society say
they were personally involved in widespread vote buying that marred
the April 2017 elections.
Businessman Gagik Tsarukian's alliance, which finished second in the
polls, has drafted amendments to Armenia's Electoral Code which would
scrap the individual races, meaning that each party or blocs would
only field a single national list of election candidates. The
amendments are backed by the Yelk alliance, the other opposition group
represented in the National Assembly.
"What happened on April 2 [2017] showed that this electoral system
needs to be changed," Naira Zohrabian, a senior lawmaker from the
Tsarukian Bloc, said at a meeting of the parliament committee on legal
affairs that discussed the proposed change. Zohrabian insisted that
vote bribes had a serious influence on the election results.
Most members of the committee, who represent the HHK and its junior
coalition partner, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation
(Dashnaktsutyun), voted against the proposed amendments which are
expected to be debated on the parliament floor next month.
Arpine Hovannisian, a deputy parliament speaker affiliated with the
HHK, argued that deputies allied to Tsarukian had voted for the
current Electoral Code adopted in advance of the last general
elections. "We can't change a decision made through a broad-based
political consensus just like that," said Hovannisian.
Zohrabian countered that their support for the code was the result of
an uneasy compromise. She argued that the HHK would have blocked other
anti-fraud measures had the parliamentary opposition refused to vote
for the controversial electoral system.
Dashnaktsutyun deputies sitting on the panel opposed the Tsarukian
Bloc's bill even though the leadership of their party officially
called for the abolition of the individual races just a few weeks ago.
Press Review
"Zhoghovurd" accuses the Armenian authorities of scapegoating the
media not controlled by them for the country's grave problems. "By
this logic, they can eliminate all the problems by shutting down media
outlets," writes the paper. "But the situation on the ground would not
change as a result. The authorities would not become legitimate, there
would be no rule of law and justice, corruption would not be
eliminated, the economy would not grow, and the public debt would not
decrease."
"Zhamanak" reports that former President Levon Ter-Petrosian's
Armenian National Congress (HAK) held an exhibition and rally in
Yerevan's Liberty Square on Tuesday to mark the 30th anniversary of
the popular movement for Nagorno-Karabakh's unification with
Armenia. The paper notes the event attracted just a few hundred
people, a far cry from huge crowds that packed the square 30 years
ago. It says that even Ter-Petrosian did not attend the
celebration. "The people were more saddened than cheered up by the
gathering because everyone realized that the [HAK] action was only
about history, not development and progress," concludes the paper.
"Haykakan Zhamanak" is skeptical about official statistics suggesting
that economic growth in Armenia, which hit around 7 percent in 2017,
accelerated further in January. "Double-digit growth was registered in
all sectors except agriculture," reports the paper. "These figures are
surprising in the sense that Armenia's population continues to not
feel [positive effects] of such growth."
Lragir.am points out that Prime Minister Karen Karapetian's cabinet
has reported faster-than-anticipated economic growth and other
positive macroeconomic data in the final weeks of Serzh Sarkisian's
presidency. "Almost everyone is convinced that Serzh Sarkisian will be
nominated for the post of new prime minister while Karen Karapetian
will become first deputy prime minister [in April] and that that
position has been created for the latter," writes the online
publication. It wonders what official explanations will be given for
Karapetian's failure to retain his current post. "It is at least weird
that Serzh Sarkisian is going to be nominated for the post in place of
the overperforming prime minister," it says. "What will be the
explanation for that? There are probably two variants. Either [they
will come up with] a very serious and weighty argument about national
security # or Karen Karapetian himself must give up and state in April
that although he has more than met all targets he thinks that this is
not enough and more needs to be achieved."
(Siranuysh Gevorgyan)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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