Thursday,
Armenian PM Laments ‘Lack Of U.S. Support’
• Tatevik Lazarian
Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian meets with newly appointed U.S.
Ambassador Lynne Tracy in Yerevan, March 22, 2019.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian criticized the United States on Thursday for
what he called a lack of adequate “reaction” to democratic change in Armenia.
“The U.S. has long been acting as the most ardent defender of democracy in the
entire world,” he said in the Armenian parliament. “I want to ask all of us a
question: how did the U.S. react to the unprecedented democratic change in
Armenia? It was a profoundly and quintessentially democratic change and nobody
can doubt this.”
“I, for example, have told America’s representatives that I believe that they
basically came up with zero reaction. Why?” complained Pashinian.
“When we say that our country’s sovereignty is of paramount importance to us we
don’t mean that we need to replace dependence on point A by dependence on point
B,” he went on. “We take our sovereignty very seriously and I want to assure
you … that our government is strongly committed to protecting our country’s and
people’s sovereignty in all directions.”
Pashinian made the comments in response to a pro-Western opposition
parliamentarian who said that his government has kept Armenia anchored to
Russia and not deepened U.S.-Armenian relations. The lawmaker, Arman
Babajanian, also claimed that the current authorities in Yerevan have
jeopardized the economic component of those relations by effectively freezing a
major mining project in Armenia strongly supported by the U.S. government.
Pashinian did not specify whether he is unhappy with Washington’s failure to
significantly increase economic assistance to Armenia or other aspects of the
U.S. policy towards his country.
The U.S. State Department closely monitored the mass protests that toppled
Armenia’s previous government and brought Pashinian to power in May 2018.
In a congratulatory message sent to Pashinian in September, U.S. President
Donald Trump praised the “velvet revolution” and expressed readiness to help
the new Armenian government implement sweeping reforms promised by it. U.S.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo similarly saluted the “remarkable changes” in
Armenia.
Pashinian met with the newly appointed U.S. ambassador in Yerevan, Lynne Tracy,
on March 22. He was cited by his press office as telling Tracy that he is
“interested in the continued development of partnership with the United States,
including the political and economic spheres.”
PACE Head Inaugurates ‘Europe Square’ In Yerevan
• Gayane Saribekian
Armenia - Liliane Maury Pasquier, president of the Council of Europe's
Parliamentary Assembly, speaks at the inauguration of Europe Square in Yerevan,
.
The president of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), Liliane
Maury Pasquier, praised Armenia’s “democratic institutions” and inaugurated a
square in Yerevan named after Europe during a three-day visit to the country
which ended on Thursday.
Pasquier met with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, parliament speaker Ararat
Mirzoyan and other senior Armenian lawmakers. She also delivered a speech in
the Armenian parliament on Wednesday.
“Armenian institutions have recently undergone a major transformation thanks to
a profound constitutional reform,” she said referring to the transition to a
parliamentary system of government initiated by the country’s former
leadership. “This reform, welcomed by the Council of Europe, was prepared and
carried out in close collaboration with the Venice Commission.”
“I want to commend the people of Armenia and the Armenian political class for
using the new constitutional and political mechanisms in the context of a major
political change that has taken place peacefully and within the constitutional,
legal and democratic framework. This testifies to the solidity of the
democratic institutions and the high quality of the political class, all
parties combined,” Pasquier added in her speech.
She referred to the generally smooth political transition that followed last
spring’s “velvet revolution” in the South Caucasus state. It ended with the
holding on December 9 of snap parliamentary elections won by Pashinian’s My
Step alliance. The PACE and other pan-European organizations recognized the
vote as democratic.
Pasquier joined deputy parliament speaker Alen Simonian and Yerevan’s Mayor
Hayk Marutian in inaugurating on Thursday Europe Square located on the city’s
main pedestrian avenue.
The ceremony was timed to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the creation of
the Council of Europe. Armenia joined the Strasbourg-based organization
promoting human rights and democracy in 2001.
“Europe Square in Yerevan is a reminder of the fact that Europe is not a
geographic area but a set of our freedoms and rights, and we must all be
steadfast in defending our freedoms and rights,” Pasquier said at the ceremony.
Armenian Judge Arrested
• Naira Bulghadarian
Armenia - A courtroom in Yerevan, 8Jun2017.
An Armenian judge was arrested on Wednesday in what media reports described as
a corruption investigation launched by the National Security Service (NSS).
The NSS on Thursday confirmed the arrest of Gagik Heboyan but refused to give
any details. Another law-enforcement agency, the Special Investigative Service
(SIS), said afterwards that the NSS has transferred the criminal case to it for
further investigation.
A spokeswoman for the SIS, Marina Ohanjanian, declined to reveal what Heboyan
is accused or suspected of. She said the SIS will publicize details of the case
later on.
Heboyan has worked in the court of first instance of Armenia’s central Kotayk
province since 1999. According to some Armenian media outlets, the 54-year-old
judge will be charged with bribery.
Corruption in the Armenian judiciary has long been believed to be widespread.
In 2013, the then human rights ombudsman, Karen Andreasian, released an
extensive report that accused judges of routinely taking bribes in return for
corresponding rulings.
The report, based on confidential interviews with lawyers, judges and
prosecutors, singled out the Court of Cassation, the highest body of criminal
and administrative justice in the country. Both the court and a state body
overseeing the judiciary denied the allegations.
At least four Armenian judges are known to have been arrested and prosecuted on
corruption charges in 2016 and 2017.
Armenian Opposition Unimpressed With Government Assurances
• Naira Nalbandian
Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian addresses the parliament in Yerevan,
.
Representatives of the two opposition parties represented in Armenia’s
parliament on Thursday renewed their criticism of the government’s economic
record and policies strongly defended by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.
Pashinian presented lawmakers on Wednesday with a report on the implementation
of his government’s first policy program which was approved by the previous
National Assembly one month after he took office in May last year. He insisted
that the government is already making good on his repeated pledges to carry out
an “economic revolution” in the country.
“We never got answers to several questions,” said Naira Zohrabian, a senior
lawmaker from the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK). In particular, she said,
Pashinian failed to elaborate on his claims that hundreds of millions of
dollars worth of investments are about to be made in the Armenian economy.
“It’s been almost one year since the [2018] revolution but there has been no
change in the living standards of Armenia’s citizens,” claimed Zohrabian. The
government has yet to embark on “very serious economic reforms,” she said.
Gevorg Gorgisian of the Bright Armenia Party (LHK) complained Pashinian focused
on official statistics for the first two months of this year and his plans for
the coming months, rather than the government’s 2018 track record.
“We didn’t expect such a speech from the prime minister. We expected a report
on 2018,” said Gorgisian. Pashinian should have discussed “real economic
figures” and his government’s “failings,” he said.
Alen Simonian, a deputy parliament speaker representing Pashinian’s My Step
alliance, dismissed the criticism, saying that the government should be given
more time to deliver on its promises.
“It’s wrong to say that one year [has passed since the change of government]
and criticize us because we were busy forming the government up until the
December 9 parliamentary elections,” argued Simonian.
Both the BHK and the LHK criticized another, five-year policy program which was
drawn up by Pashinian’s cabinet shortly after those snap elections. They said
that it is short on specifics.
The program says, among other things, that the government will ensure that the
Armenian economy will grow by at least 5 percent annually.
Press Review
“Aravot” says that with Armenia insisting on Nagorno-Karabakh’s involvement in
peace talks and Azerbaijan opposing that, it is “hard to expect progress on
this issue” from Friday’s meeting in Vienna of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian
and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
“Aravot” says that with Armenia insisting on Nagorno-Karabakh’s involvement in
peace talks and Azerbaijan opposing that, it is “hard to expect progress on
this issue” from Friday’s meeting in Vienna of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian
and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. “Nevertheless, negotiations must go
on,” editorializes the paper. “It is not clear for now how we can find ‘points
of convergence’ with the Azerbaijan. But it is evident that maximalist, extreme
demands or ‘national-patriotic’ declarations will not give us or Azerbaijan any
benefits. In this sense, our position is more advantageous. Armenia’s prime
minister has stated that we must reckon with the interests and aspirations of
the peoples of Armenia, Karabakh and Azerbaijan, whereas Ilham Aliyev seems
willing to only reckon with ‘international law,’ distorting it in accordance
with his ambitions.”
“Zhamanak” says the Azerbaijani military has reported that one of its soldiers
was shot dead by Armenian forces near Karabakh this week. The paper links the
report with the Armenian-Azerbaijani summit in Vienna and suggests that Baku
might be preparing ground for a possible escalation of tensions on the
frontlines. “In any case, Yerevan and Stepanakert must be ready to prevent
possible Azerbaijani provocations not only on the diplomatic front but also on
the border,” it says.
“Zhoghovurd” comments on last week’s mass desertion of soldiers from an
Armenian military base near the southeastern town of Meghri. They thus showed
support for one of their comrades who was punished by local military commanders
for his reputedly unruly behavior. “Another circumstance is noteworthy in this
affair. They punished the soldiers by sending them to the frontline,” the paper
writes, questioning the wisdom of such a punitive measure. It says Defense
Minister Davit Tonoyan thus implied that “serving on the frontline is a form of
punishment.”
(Lilit Harutiunian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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