Friday,
Pro-Pashinian Candidate In Yerevan Elections ‘Ready’ For Televised Debate
Armenia -- My Step Alliance candidate Hayk Marutian (in the center) is leading
supporters on a campaign rally in Yerevan streets, 13Sep2018
For the first time in years a pro-establishment candidate running in a major
election in Armenia has agreed to participate in a televised debate with his
rivals.
Hayk Marutian, a popular actor and producer who is running for the office of
Yerevan’s mayor in September 23 elections, said on Thursday that he supported
the idea after RFE/RL’s Armenian Service offered to host such a debate.
Under Armenian election law, candidates are not required to participate in
televised debates. No senior incumbent official or government-backed candidate
has participated in such a debate since 2003 when then President Robert
Kocharian clashed in a historic live show on television with his principal
rival Stepan Demirchian ahead of a presidential run-off.
Marutian, who is a member of the Civil Contract party of Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian and leads the My Step alliance consisting of active participants of
last spring’s street protests that brought Pashinian to power, believes that
all candidates should participate in a televised debate. “This is a civilized
option and we should do that. I am the first to say yes, I am ready, but on
condition that all 12 [mayoral] candidates running in the current elections are
present, all are given equal time and participate on equal terms,” he said.
Official campaigning in the elections to Yerevan’s Council of Elders kicked off
on September 10 and will continue through September 21.
Residents of the Armenian capital will go to the polls on September 23 to elect
the 65-member body according to party lists. The Council of Elders will then
elect a new mayor of Yerevan. Under Armenian election law, if any of the
political parties and alliances manages to gain more than 40 percent of the
vote, the top candidate on its list will be elected mayor automatically.
Three of the political parties and blocs contesting the elections are also
represented in the Pashinian government. These are the Prosperous Armenia Party
of tycoon Gagik Tsarukian, which fielded lawmaker Naira Zohrabian as its
mayoral candidate, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun),
whose list is topped by Mikael Manukian, and the Luys alliance led by Justice
Minister Artak Zeynalian.
Among other major candidates running for mayor in the current elections are
also former lawmaker Zaruhi Postanjian of the Yerkir Tsirani party and former
foreign minister Raffi Hovannisian representing the Heritage party.
The former ruling Republican Party of Armenia is not participating in the
current elections. Its senior member Taron Markarian resigned in July after
serving as Yerevan mayor for seven years. The Council of Elders could not elect
a new mayor, triggering early elections by popular vote.
The current election campaign in Yerevan is focused on a number of issues,
including transportation, waste management, the improvement of city
infrastructure, kindergartens and others.
Prime Minister Pashinian has vowed to ensure free, fair and democratic
elections. Many analysts believe the Yerevan vote will become the first major
test for the reformist leader and his political team head of early
parliamentary elections expected at some time before next summer.
Operator Vows To Solve Waste-Disposal Crisis In Yerevan
Sanitek company director Nicholas El Tawil at a press conference in Yerevan, 14
September, 2018
After months of criticism over poor garbage collection in Yerevan the city’s
private operator has vowed to solve the issue shortly.
“In the next couple of days citizens will see that the waste management will be
regulated,” Nicholas El Tawil, the director of the Lebanese-run Sanitek
company, said at a press conference on Friday.
Residents of the Armenian capital held several protests in front of the Sanitek
office in recent weeks, demanding that the company, which entered Yerevan in
2014 and has worked as a monopolist in waste management since, do proper work
to “clean up the mess” in the city.
Piles of garbage have been seen in virtually all districts of Yerevan as
Sanitek garbage trucks did not show up for days to collect them.
Angered residents have complained about bad smell and poor sanitary conditions
created in the city during the summer months because of the poor service
offered by the private operator.
The problem of Sanitek’s poor waste disposal has repeatedly been raised by
Armenian authorities lately. In recent weeks the Yerevan municipality imposed
fines amounting to over $50,000 on the company and warned it about stricter
sanctions ahead unless the situation improved.
In explaining the deterioration of its work Sanitek referred to the shortage of
garbage trucks that it said frequently broke down because of bad roads leading
to the landfill site. The company also claimed excessive damage to its trash
cans caused by residents that increases overall costs for garbage collection.
Speaking at a press conference today Sanitek’s manager admitted that his
company did not duly fulfill its obligations during the last three months. “But
we haven’t run away from our responsibilities,” he added.
Earlier, the company said it had purchased some new garbage trucks that were on
their way to Armenia.
Ahead of September 23 elections to Yerevan’s Council of Elders many of the
political parties and blocs participating in the campaign promise to attract
more waste management operators for the city.
In this view El Tawil said that any other investor or operator would still face
the same problems. “We look forward to coordinate [our work] with the new
municipality. We believe and hope that the new government will make a master
plan for waste collection not only for Yerevan, but also for the entire
country,” Sanitek’s representative said, denying that the company’s problems
began after the resignation of former mayor Taron Markarian.
El Tawil said they will discuss with the city authorities the possibility of
having an international company supervising Sanitek as a contractor. “Because
waste management is a very complicated and delicate issue,” El Tawil concluded.
Two Armenian Children Allowed To Stay In Netherlands
NETHERLANDS -- Two Armenian teens, Howick (right), 13, and Lili, 12, pose in
The Hague, August 13, 2018
Two Armenian children who went into hiding last week to avoid deportation from
the Netherlands will continue to live in the country, an Armenian ombudsman
confirmed on Friday.
Arman Tatoyan, according to his office, had a telephone conversation with Dutch
Ombudsperson for children Margrite Kalverboer over the matter.
The report quoted Kalverboer as saying that the decision to allow Lili and
Howick to stay was taken in the children’s best interest.
Dutch Justice Ministry spokesman Maarten Molenbeek said on September 8 that the
two minors went missing from the foster home where they were staying during the
night, hours after an Amsterdam court rejected their final bid to stop their
deportation.
The children, aged 12 and 13, came to the Netherlands with their mother in 2008.
Their asylum claim was rejected by Dutch courts that ruled Armenia is a safe
country.
The children’s mother, Armina Hambartsjumian, was deported to Armenia in 2017.
The case has attracted mass public attention, with the children appearing on
national television to plead their case.
The children have never been to Armenia and do not speak Armenian.
Their lawyers argued unsuccessfully that their mother was unable to care for
them properly.
Macron, Pashinian Meet In Paris
• Karlen Aslanian
France -- Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian meets with President of
France Emmanuel Macron, Paris, 14Sep2018
French President Emmanuel Macron met with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian in Paris on Friday for talks focused on an upcoming summit of
Francophonie nations to be held in Yerevan next month.
According to the Armenian prime minister’s spokesman, Macron and Pashinian also
discussed issues pertaining to the business form to be organized within the
framework of the Francophonie summit in the Armenian capital.
Greeting Pashinian, Macron reportedly highlighted the importance of the
Armenian leader’s visit to France, expressing conviction that “it will promote
and give a new impetus to the further development of friendly relations between
the two countries.”
The French president underlined that his country is ready to continue the
efforts aimed at “expanding close cooperation with friendly Armenia in
different spheres.”
The French leader reportedly expressed confidence that the upcoming
Francophonie summit in Yerevan will be held at a high level. The Armenian prime
minister, for his part, said: “I am convinced that our meeting will give a new
quality to our privileged relations based on centuries-old historical
friendship.” He stressed the importance of Armenia’s hosting the 2018
Francophonie Summit, describing it as one of the most important events in
Yerevan since the South Caucasus country gained independence in 1991. Pashinian
reaffirmed his government’s commitment to ensure a successful holding of the
summit and expressed confidence that “it will contribute to the further rise of
the reputation and influence of the Francophonie.”
The French president is due to visit Yerevan for the events on October 11-12.
During the meeting at the Elysee Palace the two leaders also addressed the
Nagorno-Karabakh issue, the spokesman, Arman Yeghoyan, said to RFE/RL’s
Armenian service.
Along with the United States and Russia, France co-chairs the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) Minsk Group, an international
format promoting a peaceful resolution of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.
According to the information posted on the prime minister’s official website,
Pashinian praised the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries,
including France’s efforts aimed at ensuring peace and stability in the region.
The prime minister underlined that Armenia is committed to continue
negotiations to reach a peaceful settlement of the conflict.
“The Armenian prime minister and the French president attached importance to a
peaceful settlement of the problem through the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group
co-chairs,” Pashinian’s spokesman added.
The two leaders reportedly agreed to discuss the agenda of the French-Armenian
relations in more detail during Macron’s state visit to Armenia next month.
During his two-day visit to Paris the Armenian prime minister also held
meetings with representatives of the French-Armenian community as well as with
business circles of France.
Addressing members of the French Enterprise Movement today, Pashinian, in
particular, called for French investments in the Armenian economy.
“I want to assure you that all investors will have dialogue-based relations
with the Government of Armenia within the limits of honesty and legitimacy.
Those who engage in economic activity will not have competitors in the
government, since business and politics should be separated, and those who are
engaged in politics should not engage in business. The Armenian government has
been able to enforce this condition within a short period of time because it
enjoys full confidence of the Armenian people,” Pashinian said, as quoted by
his press service.
Press Review
“Zhamanak” comments on the silence of ousted prime minister and former
president Serzh Sarkisian regarding the latest political developments in
Armenia. “So far Serzh Sarkisian has not in any way commented on the
prosecution and arrest of former president Robert Kocharian and, in general,
about his return to active politics,” writes the paper, referring to
Kocharian’s recent interview to the Mediamax news agency in which he says that
he did not think about Sarkisian’s “silence”. “But the very question and his
answer to it reveal that Kocharian in reality thinks about it,” the paper
suggests.
“Haykakan Zhamanak” poses a question about “why Robert Kocharian’s intensive
self-promotion fails to bring him any essential popularity rating, but only
aggravates the negative attitude that exists towards him.” “The answer is very
clear – in his interviews he speaks about things about which everyone knows the
whole truth, and this truth is contrary to what Kocharian cites as facts,” the
paper says.
Commenting on the latest prosecutions against senior former officials in
Armenia “Hraparak” suggests that it is only natural that “pressure against them
causes resistance.” “When you bring a criminal case against people who have
money, surroundings, a certain track record and some intellect it is unlikely
that like chickens they will allow you to cut their throats without putting up
some struggle… So, don’t be surprised if these people resort to self-defense,
start giving interviews, discrediting the new authorities, even seeking help
from outside,” the paper writes.
(Tigran Avetisian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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