Wednesday,
Armenia’s New Constitutional Court Chief Elected
• Hovannes Movsisian
Armenia - Hrayr Tovmasian attends a parliament session in Yerevan, 15 September
2015.
The Armenian parliament voted on Wednesday to elect Hrayr Tovmasian, a former
opposition politician who switched his allegiance to President Serzh Sarkisian
in 2010, the new chairman of the country’s Constitutional Court.
The previous, longtime head of Armenia’s highest court, Gagik Harutiunian, was
named earlier this month to run a new body that will oversee the Armenian
judiciary and supposedly guarantee its independence.
A lawyer by education, Tovmasian was a senior member of the opposition
Zharangutyun (Heritage) party in the 2000s. He was unexpectedly appointed as
justice minister in late 2010 and joined Sarkisian’s Republican Party of
Armenia (HHK) in 2012.
Tovmasian was dismissed as justice minister in 2013 to become a key member of a
presidential body that drafted controversial constitutional changes calling for
Armenia’s transformation into a parliamentary republic. He was elected to the
current National Assembly on the HHK ticket last year and headed its standing
committee on legal affairs until this month.
The HHK-controlled parliament named him a Constitutional Court judge on March
2. It went on to elect him court chairman by 64 votes to 27. The 47-year-old
was backed by deputies from the ruling party and its junior coalition partner,
Dashnaktsutyun, but rejected by their colleagues representing the opposition
Tsarukian Bloc and Yelk alliance.
Yelk lawmakers were particularly critical of Tovmasian’s candidacy during a
debate that preceded the vote. One of them, Nikol Pashinian, said that he is
being rewarded for helping Sarkisian extend his rule as a result of the
controversial constitutional reform and several new laws mainly authored by
Tovmasian.
“Hrayr Tovmasian is being dispatched to the Constitutional Court and appointed
as its chairman in order to serve … as a watchdog for this fraudulent state,”
charged Pashinian.
The HHK’s parliamentary leaders claimed that in his new job Tovmasian will not
be influenced by his government background and past affiliation with the
president’s party.
“I promise that I will be both the chairman of a good Constitutional Court and
a good chairman of the Constitutional Court,” Tovmasian said, for his part,
right after the vote. He declined to speak to reporters before making his way
into an HHK deputy’s office moments later.
Armenian Parliament Refuses To Condemn 2008 Crackdown
Armenia - Supporters of opposition candidate Levon Ter-Petrosian rally inside a
barricaded area in Yerevan in the wake of a disputed presidential election, 1
March 2008.
The National Assembly rejected on Wednesday a draft resolution condemning the
use of lethal force against opposition protesters in Yerevan in the wake of
Armenia’s disputed 2008 presidential election.
The parliamentary resolution put forward by the opposition Yelk alliance says
that supporters of opposition leader 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 ten people dead. The statement demands that
law-enforcement authorities at last identify and prosecute those responsible
for the killings.
The pro-government majority in the Armenian parliament agreed to debate the
draft resolution even though its standing committee on legal affairs gave a
formal negative assessment of the document last month.
Only nine members of the 105-seat legislature voted for the Yelk motion after a
debate on the parliament floor. All of them are affiliated with the opposition
bloc.
Fifty-six other lawmakers mainly representing the ruling Republican Party of
Armenia (HHK) voted against the motion. The nominally opposition Tsarukian
Bloc, which controls the parliament’s second largest faction, boycotted the
vote, thereby refusing to back the Yelk initiative.
Ter-Petrosian, who had served as Armenia’s first president from 1998-2008, was
the main opposition candidate in the February 2008 presidential ballot. He
rejected as fraudulent official vote results that gave victory to Sarkisian.
Many Ter-Petrosian supporters took to the streets to demand a re-run of the
vote. Thousands of them barricaded themselves in downtown Yerevan on March 1,
2008 after riot police broke up nonstop demonstrations organized by
Ter-Petrosian and his allies in the city’s Liberty Square.
Eight protesters and two police servicemen were killed as security forces tried
to forcibly end that protest as well. Ter-Petrosian urged his supporters to
disperse early on March 2, 2008 shortly after Kocharian declared a state of
emergency and ordered Armenian army units into the capital.
Dozens of opposition figures, including Yelk leader Nikol Pashinian, were
subsequently arrested and prosecuted. The parliamentary statement proposed by
Yelk also demanded that Armenian prosecutors review those “fabricated” criminal
cases.
Speaking in the parliament on Wednesday, Pashinian again demanded that
Kocharian be questioned by law-enforcement authorities that claim to be
continuing to investigate the worst street violence in Armenia’s history. He
said the ex-president should specifically be challenged to prove his March 2008
claim that some opposition protesters fired gunshots at security forces.
Gevorg Kostanian, a senior pro-government deputy who served as the country’s
prosecutor-general from 2013-2016, dismissed Pashinian’s demand. Kostanian said
Kocharian’s claim was based on secret video filmed by security forces. He said
they are not allowed to publicize it until their criminal investigation into
the unrest is complete.
Armenian Official Chides Iran Over ‘Conflicting Claims’ On Gas Price
• Sargis Harutyunyan
Iran - An Iranian honor guard displays Iranian and Armenian national flags at
an official ceremony in Tehran, 7 August 2017.
An Armenian pro-government lawmaker accused Iranian officials on Wednesday of
misleading Yerevan about potential prices of Iranian natural gas delivered to
Armenia.
Mihran Hakobian, who represents the ruling Republican Party (HHK), cited
statements by Iran’s current and former ambassadors in Yerevan that Iranian gas
could cost Armenia less than Russian gas. “But as soon as you ask these people
whether they would charge us even one [U.S.] cent less than Russia at the
Armenian border you get a negative answer,” he complained in the parliament.
“This is one component of Iran’s regional policy,” Hakobian went on. “To put it
bluntly, they let down the Armenian authorities and the Armenian state based on
their regional policy components.”
It was not immediately clear whether Hakobian’s comments reflected only his
personal view or the Armenian government’s position.
Armenia imports more than 80 percent of its gas from Russia at a discounted
price currently set at $150 per thousand cubic meters. The remaining gas
imports come from Iran under a swap arrangement involving supplies of Armenian
electricity to the Islamic Republic.
Speaking in Yerevan in December 2013, the then Iranian Ambassador Mohammad
Reisi seemed to imply that Tehran is ready to offer the Armenian side an even
lower gas price. However, a senior executive of the National Iranian Gas
Company (NIGC) made clear in August last year that Yerevan would have to pay a
price higher than the existing Russian tariff should it opt for additional gas
supplies from Iran.
Energy Minister Ashot Manukian insisted on Wednesday that Russian gas is
cheaper for Armenia than gas coming from Iran or other potential supplies.
“I’ve just returned from [gas-rich] Turkmenistan,” he said during the
government’s question-and-answer session in the parliament. “[Gas-related]
discussions have long been underway and they will continue. I can report no
progress at the moment because the prices offered to us are not competitive
compared to the prices of gas imported by us.”
Edmon Marukian, a pro-Western opposition lawmaker, dismissed the minister’s
assurances. He claimed that the government is not diversifying gas supplies to
Armenia because the domestic gas distribution network is owned by Russia’s
Gazprom energy giant. Marukian also pointed to the fact that Prime Minister
Karen Karapetian used to run that network and hold senior positions in other
Gazprom subsidiaries.
Karapetian discussed gas supplies with senior Iranian officials during an
official visit to Tehran last October. He also reportedly explored the
possibility of Armenian imports of gas from Turkmenistan via Iran.
The Armenian-Iranian gas-for-electricity arrangement is due to be significantly
expanded after Armenia completes the ongoing construction of a third power
transmission line connecting it to Iran. The $120 million line is expected to
go on stream next year.
Karapetian Coy About Political Future
• Karlen Aslanian
Armenia - President Serzh Sarkisian (L) and Prime Minister Karen Karapetian
shake hands before an official ceremony at the Yerablur military cemetery in
Yerevan, 28 January 2018.
Prime Minister Karen Karapetian on Wednesday skirted questions about his
political future which remains uncertain less than three weeks before the end
of President Serzh Sarkisian’s final presidential term.
Karapetian has repeatedly said before that he would like to retain his post
after Armenia switches to a parliamentary system of government in April.
Sarkisian gave on Monday the strongest indication yet that he will become prime
minister and thus remain the country’s most powerful official right after his
presidency.
Some Armenian media outlets and observers have speculated in recent weeks that
Karapetian will become the country first deputy prime minister mainly
responsible for the government’s socioeconomic policies. During the Armenian
government’s question-and-answer session in the parliament, Edmon Marukian, a
leader of the opposition Yelk alliance, likewise suggested that Karapetian is
ready to take up the newly established post.
“There has been no discussion on that [within the country’s leadership.] So how
can I say whether or not I am ready?” replied the 54-year-old premier.
Sarkisian said on Monday that so far there have been only unofficial
“discussions” within his Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) and its junior
coalition partner, Dashnaktsutyun, on who should be the next prime minister. “I
don’t know when we will finish those discussions,” he claimed.
Karapetian was tasked with improving the economic situation in Armenia when
Sarkisian named him prime minister in September 2016. The former business
executive unveiled an ambitious economic reform agenda in the following months.
He effectively claimed credit on Wednesday for much faster economic growth
recorded by the government in 2017.
Karapetian touted the 7.5 percent growth rate and outlined his cabinet’s plans
for the coming years when he addressed top military officials in Yerevan on
Monday. He also said the government remains committed to “long-lasting
fundamental reforms.”
Press Review
“Haykakan Zhamanak” condemns a lengthy prison sentence given by an Armenian
court to opposition activist Zhirayr Sefilian on Tuesday, calling it further
proof of “the absence of justice” in Armenia. The paper believes that
prosecutors failed to come up with “convincing evidence” in support of their
accusations that Sefilian and his supporters plotted an armed revolt against
the government. “This is selective justice,” it says, adding that unlike
opposition figures, government loyalists get away with murders and other
serious crimes.
“Zhoghovurd” likens Sefilian’s trial to a “poorly staged tragicomedy.”
“Sefilian was not allowed to be present at most court hearings and the judge
deprived him of his right to deliver his final remarks,” writes the paper. “And
yesterday’s verdict came to prove the simple truth that the opposition figure
is subjected to injustice.”
“Serzh Sarkisian decides to attack,” reads a headline in “Zhamanak.” The paper
links the “strict and demonstrative” verdict against Sefilian to Sarkisian’s
effective announcement this week that he will become Armenia’s prime minister
next month. It says “Sarkisian seems to be demonstrating that he is determined
to counter attempts to prevent his premiership through upheavals or other
extraordinary means.” The outgoing president, it says, at the same time is also
challenging disgruntled Armenians to take to the streets and try to scuttle his
plans.
“Hraparak” scoffs at Sarkisian’s stated plans to gradually transfer more powers
to “young political leaders.” The paper says that the relatively young
individuals holding key positions in his administration do not quite inspire
trust in the country’s democratic future.
(Elen Chilingaryan)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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