Wednesday,
Pashinian Again Urges End To Continuing Protests
Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian speaks to reporters in Yerevan, 21 May
2018.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Wednesday again demanded an immediate end to
road closures and other protests going on in Armenia, saying that they smack of
“sabotage” against his newly formed government.
Pashinian already made a similar appeal on May 17 as groups of citizens blocked
streets and highways across the country and demonstrated outside government
buildings in Yerevan. Virtually all of those protests stopped as a result.
In particular, a major Yerevan street was unblocked by dozens of other people
demanding the release of jailed members of a radical opposition group that
launched a deadly attack on a police station in 2016. But they continued to
picket a court building as well as prosecutors’ headquarters in the Armenian
capital on a virtually daily basis.
Also, a group of residents of the southeastern Vayots Dzor province blocked for
the fourth consecutive day on Wednesday all roads leading to a massive gold
mine which is being built by a British-American company, Lydian International,
at the Amulsar deposit. They demanded a permanent halt to all construction and
mining operations there. Hundreds of other people working for Lydian and its
Armenian contractors were thus unable to go to work.
“Dear compatriots, I am again asking, urging and demanding that you stop all
civil disobedience actions without any exception and work with the government
for solving issues preoccupying you,” Pashinian wrote in a Facebook post.
“Taking civil disobedience actions against a government enjoying the people’s
trust means taking civil disobedience actions against yourself or carrying out
acts of sabotage against the government enjoying the people’s trust,” he said.
He warned that failure to heed his appeal would “receive an evaluation by the
people.”
Pashinian also aired a live video message on Facebook late on Tuesday in an
apparent response to the tense situation around the Amulsar mining site. He
announced that he will order government inspections of “all metal mines” in the
country to verify and, if necessary, ensure their compliance with environment
protection norms and their tax obligations.
Pashinian made clear at the same time that his government favors an “explicitly
balanced approach” to the domestic mining sector which generates a considerable
part of Armenia’s export revenue. “We cannot say that we are going to shut down
the Armenian mining industry,” he stressed.
“All our actions must be professional and strictly comply with the law so that
there are no negative consequences for Armenia in international bodies and also
in relation to this positive background for the investment climate,” stressed
the premier.
Armenia - The U.S.-based company Lydian International builds a gold mine at the
Amulsar deposit, 9Dec2017. (Photo by Lydian Armenia)
Lydian started building its gold mining and smelting facilities at Amulsar
2016. It has since hired more than 1,000 Armenian workers for the construction
which it says will cost $370 million in investments. Work on the mine is due to
be completed before the end of this year. Armenia’s gold exports should
increase sharply as a result.
Armenian environment protection groups are opposed to the Amulsar project.
Lydian maintains that it will use advanced technology and prevent any damage to
the local ecosystem.
The mining project is strongly supported by the U.S. and British governments.
The U.S. ambassador to Armenia, Richard Mills, argued last year year that it
has been deemed “fully compliant” with environment protection standards set by
the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
Tsarukian Said To Aim For Election Victory
• Ruzanna Stepanian
Armenia - Businessman Gagik Tsarukian speaks at an election campaign rally in
Yerevan, 28Mar2017.
Gagik Tsarukian’s Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) insists on the conduct of
fresh parliamentary elections and believes it can win them, a senior BHK figure
said on Wednesday.
The BHK, which is part of the broader Tsarukian Bloc, backed the recent popular
uprising that led to the resignation of the country’s longtime leader, Serzh
Sarkisian. It also helped the protest leader, Nikol Pashinian, become prime
minister and joined him in calling for snap elections.
“We all need to realize that there has emerged an unconventional political
situation in the country which can only have one legal solution: pre-term
parliamentary elections,” the BHK’s Naira Zohrabian told reporters. “Prosperous
Armenia is ready to participate in them as early as tomorrow. But we also
realize that we need to solve a number of legal issues before the elections.”
Zohrabian cited the need to modify the existing electoral system and enact more
safeguards against vote rigging. Pashinian and his political team are also
seeking such changes.
The 42-year-old premier has suggested that the general elections will likely be
held before the end of this year. Zohrabian described this time frame as
“realistic.”
Armenia - Opposition leaders Gagik Tsarukian (L) and Nikol Pashinian speak to
reporters after a meeting in Yerevan, 2 May 2018.
Senior representatives Sarkisian’s Republican Party of Armenia (HHK), which
still holds a majority of seats in the current parliament, have spoken out
against the idea of fresh elections. The HHK is in a position to block their
conduct.
Zohrabian made clear that should such elections be the BHK will “aspire” to
winning control over the next parliament.She pointed to her party’s “political
clout” and “great public trust in our leader.”
Tsarukian’s political force finished second in Armenia’s last three
parliamentary elections held in 2017, 2012 and 2007.
Asked whether Tsarukian is now more popular than Pashinian, Zohrabian said:
“Gagik Tsarukian is one of Armenia’s most popular politicians and I will be
greatly surprised if anyone calls his approval rating into question.”
Tsarukian, who is one the country’s richest men, received five ministerial
posts in Pashinian’s cabinet formed earlier this month.
Armenian PM Rejects ‘Threats’ From Jailed Oppositionists
• Artak Hambardzumian
Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and members of his government attend a
parliament session in Yerevan, .
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian rejected on Wednesday what he called “threats of
violence” made by the leaders of a fringe opposition group imprisoned by the
former Armenian authorities.
He reiterated that he will not try to pressurize courts into releasing Zhirayr
Sefilian, Varuzhan Avetisian and other jailed members of the Founding
Parliament movement that seized a police station in Yerevan in 2016.
Sefilian and Avetisian, who lead Founding Parliament, criticized Pashinian’s
reluctance to exert such pressure on Tuesday. In an open a letter to the
recently elected premier, they said the continued imprisonment of these and
other “political prisoners” could have “severe consequences” for Armenia.
“As you know the process of the release of political prisoners has begun and
will continue,” Pashinian said, commenting on the letter. “But I want to make
one thing clear: one must not speak to the people with threats of violence and
hints at threats of violence.”
“I hope we all understand that if there has been a change of political
situation that change of political situation must also occur in everybody’s
behavior,” he told reporters.
Pashinian also dismissed Sefilian’s and Avetisian’s claims that he seems to
have “washed his hands” of radical opposition activists and supporters jailed
during former President Serzh Sarkisian’s rule.
“We have to verify what it means to wash one’s hands,” he said. “If it’s about
my statements that I’m not going to issue instructions to judges, then I stand
by that position because starting a process of instructing judges for any
purpose means starting a process of ‘SerzhSarkisianization.’ I won’t put myself
into such a process because even if we issue an order to a court just once that
court will never operate without our orders.”
“We attach great importance to the establishment of an independent judicial
system in the Republic of Armenia and see two practical tasks in that regard,”
Pashinian went on. “First, to make sure that no illegal orders are issued to
courts from government offices or anywhere else. And second, to make sure that
no judge hands down a ruling in return for a bribe.”
Pashinian pledged to seek the release of all “political prisoners” immediately
after he swept to power in a democratic revolution earlier this month. But he
made clear that he will use solely legal mechanisms for that purpose.
Sefilian was arrested in June 2016 and subsequently sentenced to 10.5 years in
prison for plotting an armed revolt against the government, a charge he
strongly denies.
Sefilian’s arrest came less than a month before three dozen Founding Parliament
members led by Avetisian seized a police base in Yerevan’s Erebuni district to
demand his release and Sarkisian’s resignation. The armed group calling itself
Sasna Tsrer laid down its weapons after a two-week standoff with security
forces, which left three police officers dead.
Pashinian has publicly listed Sefilian, but not Avetisian and other jailed
gunmen, among the individuals who he believes were jailed for political
reasons. He said last week that the Sasna Tsrer case is “a bit different”
because of the three casualties. He said it should be resolved as a result of
public “discussions” that must involve relatives of the three slain policemen.
Man Linked To Armenian MP Held For Attacking Protesters
• Nane Sahakian
Armenia - Parliament deputy Mihran Poghosian at a session of the National
Assembly in Yerevan, 19 May 2017.
A man working for a controversial Armenian parliamentarian affiliated with the
former ruling Republican Party (HHK) has been arrested on suspicion of
assaulting anti-government protesters in Yerevan last month.
The incident occurred in the city’s northern Kanaker-Zeytun district on April
21, two days before HHK leader Serzh Sarkisian resigned as prime minister amid
massive street protests against his decade-long rule. A group of men reportedly
beat up and smashed the cars of people taking part in the protests led by Nikol
Pashinian.
The Armenian police detained one of the presumed attackers, Andranik Isoyan, on
Tuesday. He turned out to be an assistant to Mihran Poghosian, a wealthy HHK
lawmaker who has long held sway in Kanaker-Zeytun.
Poghosian on Wednesday expressed hope that the arrest is the result of a
“misunderstanding” and that Isoyan will be cleared of any wrongdoing. “I regret
the fact that my assistant has found himself among a number of individuals who
have been arrested or summoned by relevant bodies lately,” he said.
A senior member of Pashinian’s Yelk alliance, Zaruhi Batoyan, claimed earlier
that the attackers arrived at the scene of the incident in cars belonging to
Poghosian and his associates. Batoyan said she suspects that the
parliamentarian was in one of those cars during the assault.
Poghosian categorically denied that. He also insisted that he did not order
Isoyan or anybody else to attack the protesters.
Armenia - Mihran Poghosian, head of the Service for the Mandatory Execution of
Judicial Acts (SMEJA), at a news conference in Yerevan, 25Jan2013.
Poghosian, who will turn 42 next week, ran an Armenian state body enforcing
court rulings until getting embroiled in a corruption scandal two years ago.
Citing leaked documents known as the Panama Papers, the Hetq.am investigative
publication reported that he controls three shadowy companies registered in
Panama.
After his initial denials of the report, Poghosian announced his resignation
later in April 2016. Armenia’s Special Investigation Service (SIS) launched a
criminal investigation at the time.
The SIS said in January 2017 that it will not press criminal charges against
Poghosian because it has found no evidence of his involvement in “illegal
entrepreneurial activity.” Shortly afterwards, the ruling HHK nominated him as
a candidate for parliamentary elections held in April 2017.
Independent media outlets have for years accused Poghosian of having extensive
business interests thanks to his government position and connections. In
particular, he is widely regarded as the main owner of a company that enjoyed a
de facto monopoly on banana imports to Armenia until recently.
The former official has also faced opposition allegations that a charity
controlled by him bought votes for the HHK and Serzh Sarkisian in presidential
and parliamentary elections. He has always denied them.
Press Review
“The team that came to power in Armenia as a result of the velvet resolution is
slowly but steadily reinforcing its positions,” writes “Haykakan Zhamanak.” “As
was expected, the team is grappling with numerous and different issues. The
most sensitive of those issues is to do with relations with the business
community. Over the decades big business in Armenia grew intertwined with
government and became an integral part of state governance. The state was
guided by the interests of big business, while big business served as the main
resource for the ruling regime’s reproduction.”
“Now everything has changed and an interesting situation has emerged,”
continues the paper edited by Nikol Pashinian’s wife, Anna Hakobian. It says
that wealthy entrepreneurs are no longer “sponsored” by the government and are
“rapidly losing their privileges and getting quite dexterous competitors just
as rapidly.”
“Zhoghovurd” reports that Serzh Sarkisian visits the Yerevan headquarters of
his Republican Party (HHK) and meets its senior members on a practically daily
basis these days. “At those meetings, he initiates discussions on various
topics, hears views and himself expresses them but does not share his actions
and plans with anyone,” the paper says. It suggests that the former president
and prime minister is “looking for ways of returning to power.”
Speaking to “Hayots Ashkhar,” Samvel Nikoyan, an HHK parliamentarian,
challenges Pashinian to explain what he means by a “government of national
accord.” “This is a typical coalition government,” Nikoyan says of Pashinian’s
cabinet.
“Aravot” says that many university rectors, school principals, teachers and
academics in Armenia indeed joined the HHK for various, less than altruistic
reasons. The paper says that the new government must not waste time on getting
them to leave the former ruling party. “The principals and rectors will
themselves quickly assess the situation and leave the former ruling party
because membership in the HHK will only harm them now,” it says.
(Tigran Avetisian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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