Friday,
Armenia's Former Ruling Party ‘Ready’ To Discuss Snap Polls
• Sargis Harutyunyan
Armenia -- Parliament deputies from the Republican Party meet with Nikol
Pashinian, Yerevan, 30Apr2018
Former President Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party (HHK) has expressed
readiness to negotiate with Armenia’s new government on fresh parliamentary
elections sought by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and his political allies.
“At the moment we see no hurdle to pre-term elections,” Davit Harutiunian, a
senior HHK member, said late on Thursday after a meeting of the governing board
of the party which still controls the majority of seats in the Armenian
parliament. “There are no taboo issues for us.”
Harutiunian stressed that an agreement on the date and other practical
modalities of such a vote must result from negotiations involving all political
forces represented in the National Assembly. “As of now we have received no
proposals to participate in such discussions,” he told journalists. “But we are
expressing our readiness [to take part in them.]”
Pashinian demanded the holding of general elections before the end of this year
immediately after he swept to power on May 8 in a wave of mass protests that
forced Sarkisian to resign as prime minister. He is backed on the issue by his
Yelk alliance and the two other parliamentary minority factions representing
businessman Gagik Tsarukian’s bloc and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation
(Dashnaktsutyun).
Senior HHK figures have until now spoken out against the idea of snap polls.
Harutiunian’s remarks suggest that the former ruling party has softened its
stance. Some observers attribute this apparent change to fears that more
deputies will defect from its parliament faction and cause the HHK to lose its
slim majority in the legislature.
The HHK spokesman, Eduard Sharmazanov, denied that, however, saying that he and
other party representatives had not “categorically” ruled out fresh
elections.“We remain of the opinion that the issue of urgent pre-term elections
is not on our agenda right now,” he said. “It is not on Pashinian’s political
agenda either.”
Sharmazanov added that while elections are extremely unlikely in the next three
months “nobody can say what will happen six or seven months later.”
Harutiunian made clear on Thursday that the HHK is also ready to discuss major
amendments to the Armenian Electoral Code demanded by Pashinian’s political
team. He said the party specifically supports the idea of enacting more legal
safeguards against fraudulent multiple voting.
Still, Harutiunian said the HHK remains opposed to changing a complicated and
controversial system of electing the National Assembly. It is believed to have
contributed to the HHK’s victory in the last legislative polls held in April
2017.
Yelk, Tsarukian and Dashnaktsutyun want to change that system so that Armenians
vote only for political parties or blocs, rather than their individual
candidates, in the next elections.
Pashinian Explains Scrapping Of Major Energy Deal
• Sisak Gabrielian
Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian speaks at a cabinet meeting in
Yerevan, 1 June 2018.
A company belonging to Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetian will not
manage Armenia’s electricity transmission network because it already owns the
national electric utility, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said on Friday.
“We believe that the two main energy networks must not be controlled by the
same owner,” he told a cabinet meeting in Yerevan.
Karapetian’s Tashir Kapital acquired the Armenian power distribution network
from a Russian energy giant in 2015. The previous Armenian government moved
last year to allow Tashir Kapital to also manage the High-Voltage Electric
Networks (HVEN) for the next 25 years. Government officials said at the time
that the private operator will cut costs and attract badly needed investments
in HVEN.
Energy Minister Artur Grigorian said earlier this week that the new government
has decided to terminate the management contract with Tashir Kapital because
some of its provisions are “not beneficial for the state.” Grigorian also said
on Thursday that HVEN must remain state-owned in view of its strategic
importance to the country.
Pashinian made clear, however, the latter statement does not reflect his and
his cabinet’s position. “Whether [HVEN] must be private or public is a subject
for separate discussion because there is need for some investments there and
our state now has some borrowing constraints in terms of the maximum size of
the public debt,” he said.
“So I think that government representatives … must not make statements that
leave the impression of a final [government] decision, especially given that
there is no such decision,” he added.
Tashir Kapital claimed on Thursday that it itself decided to pull out of the
deal. It also said that HVEN has been badly mismanaged and that Karapetian’s
company had a clear plan to modernize the network and make it much more
efficient.
Grigorian is one of the five members of Pashinian’s cabinet representing
businessman Gagik Tsarukian’s alliance. His statements therefore fueled media
speculation that Tsarukian, who is one of Armenia’s richest, has set his sights
on HVEN. Grigorian dismissed that speculation on Wednesday.
Pashinian, for his part, pointedly ruled out the possibility of Tsarukian
gaining control over the energy asset. He said that “no individual or company
connected to the government” will be allowed to buy or manage HVEN.
Offshore-registered firms also cannot run the transmission network, added the
premier.
New Provincial Governors Named
• Sisak Gabrielian
• Tatevik Lazarian
Armenia - A government building in Yerevan, 29 March 2018.
The government appointed on Friday the new governors of eight of the ten
provinces of Armenia who mainly represent the three minority factions in the
parliament.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian pledged to replace all ten governors after
coming to power and forming a de facto coalition government last month.
Four provinces -- Ararat, Kotayk, Shirak and Tavush -- will now be run by
members of Pashinian’s Civil Contract party. The new Ararat governor, Garik
Sargsian, is 30 years old. He has until now been the mayor of a village located
in the region south of Yerevan.
The new governors of the Aragatsotn and Gegharkunik provinces represent the
Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun). The party, which is
particularly influential in the Armenian Diaspora, also has two ministerial
posts in Pashinian’s cabinet.
A member of businessman Gagik Tsarukian’s bloc, the second largest
parliamentary force, was named to run the northern Lori province. Incidentally,
Tsarukian’s son-in-law, Karapet Guloyan, was one of the eight governors
dismissed by the new government on Friday.
Two other provinces, Syunik and Armavir, still have governors appointed by the
previous government. Pashinian has made clear that they too will be replaced.
Those posts could be given to the Tsarukian Bloc.
Minister for Local Government Suren Papikian said on Thursday that the new
governors must “correspond to new Armenian realities.” “Everything must be done
to ensure that local government bodies operate in a more clear and transparent
way with the active help of the governors,” he said.
Papikian also stressed that unlike their predecessors the governors will not be
required to help the ruling political forces garner votes in their respective
regions during elections. “Such things will be ruled out in Armenia,” he said.
EBRD Sees Continued Economic Growth In Armenia
• Sargis Harutyunyan
Armenia - Francis Malige, the EBRD director for Eastern Europe and the
Caucasus, speaks to RFE/RL in Yerevan, 1 June 2018.
Armenia’s economy should continue to grow this year despite the recent dramatic
events that led to a change of the country’s government, a senior executive of
the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said on Friday.
Francis Malige, the EBRD’s managing director for Eastern Europe and the
Caucasus, also expressed hope that the new Armenian government will implement
far-reaching reforms promised by it.
“The Armenian economy is growing,” Malige told RFE/RL’s Armenian service
(Azatutyun.am) in an interview. “We expect it to continue growing in the coming
year.”
“I expect this to be a good year,” he said. “I see that there is enthusiasm, a
good spirit among the people and that there is no disruption. Very often when
you have a change of government, as, for example, was the case in Ukraine four
years ago, you have a lot of disruptions in the economy as a consequence … I
see no unrest, I see people continuing to have a willingness to invest.”
According to official statistics, the Armenian economy grew by 7.5 percent last
year after stagnating in 2016. This robust growth continued practically
unabated in the first quarter of this year.
Armenia was thrust into political turmoil in April when its longtime leader
Serzh Sarkisian’s attempt to hold on to power triggered mass protests that
lasted for weeks and resulted in his resignation. The protest leader, Nikol
Pashinian, was elected prime minister on May 8, pledging to democratize the
country, strengthen the rule of law and liberalize its economy.
Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian (R) meets with Francis Malige, a
senior EBRD executive, in Yerevan, 1 June 2018.
Malige met with Pashinian earlier on Friday.He said he heard from the Armenian
premier a “clear commitment to the right sort of economic policies.”
“We see a group of people who have spoken very clearly on their willingness to
engage in a fight against corruption, de-monopolization of the economy,” Malige
said of the new Armenian government. “These are good things.”
“As with any new government, actions speak louder than words. So let’s see what
the actions are,” he added.
The EBRD director specifically stressed the importance of creating a level
playing field for all businesses. “It’s no secret that there are a lot of
monopolies in the Armenian economy,” he said. “We see de-monopolization as a
strong lever for further economic growth.”
“We have discussed this problem with the previous government,” he went on. “We
have generally received an answer that was along the lines of ‘yes, it’s
important, we need to do something about it but it’s difficult.’”
Lucrative sectors of the Armenian economy such as commodity imports have long
been monopolized by wealthy businesspeople close to Armenia’s previous
governments. One of those tycoons was accused by a law-enforcement agency of
large-scale evasion this week.
The EBRD has invested over $1.3 billion in about 165 projects in Armenia ever
since it began operating in the country in 1992. More than 80 percent of those
investments have gone into the private sector, largely taking the form of
minority stake purchases in local and foreign companies.
Malige said the London-based multilateral institution is ready to finance more
investment projects in Armenia. He noted in this regard that ethnic Armenian
foreign entrepreneurs seem to be showing a greater interest in their ancestral
homeland because of the recent revolution there.
“I’ve heard that there is a clear, renewed interest on the part of Armenian
Diaspora investors who are keen to come and look back at Armenia as an
investment destination,” said Malige. “I’m sure that they would be most
welcome. We would like to work with them.”
Press Review
“Hraparak” comments on Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s enthusiastic reception
by ethnic Armenian citizens of Georgia during his official visit to the
country. The paper says this is further proof that the democratic revolution in
Armenia has galvanized not only its population but also many Diaspora
Armenians. “And for us Georgia is a very important area in all senses,” it says.
“Zhamanak” also notes the jubilant scenes that marked Pashinian’s trip to
Georgia. “Of course, such meetings were also part of Serzh Sarkisian’s visits
abroad,” the paper says. “But there cannot be any comparisons between Nikol
Pashinian’s meetings [with ethnic Armenians] in Georgia and Sochi and Serzh
Sarkisian’s and Karen Karapetian’s meetings.” It notes the “immense energy” of
Pashinian’s meetings.
“Zhoghovurd” looks at ongoing audits of large Armenian companies conducted by
the National Security Service (NSS). “For many years businesspeople operated
not in a legal taxation regime but under totally different rules of the game,”
writes the paper. “As a result, Armenia’s state budget has lost serious amounts
of tax revenue.” It says that this large-scale tax evasion was made possible
and even dictated by the country’s former governments. “These rules of the game
were in force for the last 20 years,” it says.
“Haykakan Zhamanak” reports on the arrest of Davit Hambardzumian, the mayor of
the town of Masis who was allegedly among masked thugs that attacked protesters
in Yerevan on April 22. The paper calls the fallout from the arrest a
“classical manifestation of diarchy,” which it says plays into the hands of the
former ruling HHK. It suggests that the HHK was behind Thursday’s demonstration
staged by some Masis residents in support of Hambardzumian.
(Tigran Avetisian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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