Thursday,
Former Karabakh Army Chief Reports Attack On Supporters
• Ruzanna Stepanian
Armenia -- Samvel Babayan, a retired army general, at a news conference in
Yerevan, April 19, 2019.
Samvel Babayan, a retired general seeking to run for president of
Nagorno-Karabakh, has effectively accused a key political rival of organizing
an armed attack on his supporters in Armenia.
In a statement, Babayan’s office said that a group of his associates and
supporters were stopped and shot by other men on a highway in eastern Armenia
early on Wednesday. It claimed that the “gangs” that opened fire “serve” Arayik
Harutiunian, Karabakh’s former prime minister and one of the main candidates in
a presidential election that will be held in the Armenian-populated territory
next year.
Babayan’s team threatened to respond “with the same methods” if law-enforcement
bodies fail to punish the attackers.
Harutiunian’s Free Fatherland party was quick to strongly deny any involvement
in the reported attack. It also accused Babayan of resorting to “blackmail.”
“There are no gangs in Artsakh (Karabakh),” Davit Babayan, a senior Karabakh
official, told RFE/RL’s Armenian service on Thursday. He at the same time
called for an “in-depth investigation” of the incident.
The Armenian police said they launched an investigation even before Babayan’s
office released the statement. “We took and are continuing to take necessary
operational-investigative measures to ascertain the identity and whereabouts of
the participants of the incident as well as all circumstances of what
happened,” said a police spokesman.
The head of Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS), Artur Vanetsian, told
reporters later in the day that “the case has been fully solved.” Vanetsian
said the incident resulted from a financial dispute between “two groups of
individuals” but did not elaborate.
Babayan, 53, was the commander of Karabakh’s Armenian-backed army during and
after the 1991-1994 war with Azerbaijan. He expressed his intention to join the
Karabakh presidential race in February.
The Karabakh constitution stipulates that only those individuals who have
resided in Karabakh for the past 10 years can participate in the 2020
presidential election. Babayan does not meet this requirement, having mainly
lived in Armenia and Russia since 2004.
In March, the once powerful general started collecting signatures of Karabakh
residents in a bid to circumvent this legal hurdle. He has since repeatedly
accused the authorities in Stepanakert of impeding his participation in the
2020 election. The authorities have dismissed those claims.
Bako Sahakian, the Karabakh president, will not be seeking reelection next
year. He has yet to say who his preferred successor is.
Pashinian Touts 2019 Growth Figures
• Sargis Harutyunyan
Armenia - Workers at a textile factory in Yerevan, 20Mar2017.
Economic growth in Armenia accelerated to 7.1 percent in the first quarter of
this year, according to official statistics cited by Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian on Thursday.
Pashinian also touted fresh data from the national Statistical Committee
(Armstat) indicating that this growth continued unabated in April.
“This gives us reason to say that the economy is in a good mood,” he told a
weekly meeting of his cabinet in Yerevan. “We have to stimulate that good mood
through targeted capital spending and ultimately achieve even better
indicators.”
Pashinian said continued economic reforms should help the Armenian economy
“convert the good mood into a phase of lasting and sustainable development.”
Armenia’s Gross Domestic Product increased by 5.2 percent in real terms last
year, down from 7.5 percent reported by Armstat in 2017. In its 2018 state
budget bill approved by the parliament in December, Pashinian’s government
forecast a growth rate of 4.9 percent for this year.
Armenia -- Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian speaks at a cabinet meeting in
Yerevan, April 4, 2019.
“[Full-year growth] will be a bit faster,” Economic Development Minister Tigran
Khachatrian told reporters after the cabinet session. “I’ll give a more precise
figure when we move closer to the end of the year.”
Armstat figures show that trade, other services and construction were the main
driving forces behind first-quarter growth. In particular, the Statistical
Committee recorded a 26.5 percent surge in financial services provided in
Armenia.
The country’s industrial output was up by only 2 percent in January-March 2019
mainly because of a downturn in the domestic mining industry. That in turn
explains why Armenian exports shrunk by more than 8 percent, to $543 million,
in the same period.
In its comprehensive policy program approved by the parliament in February, the
government pledged to ensure that the domestic economy expands by at least 5
percent annually for the next five years. It said rising exports will be the
“main engine” of that growth.
The program reaffirms Pashinian’s repeated pledges to carry out an “economic
revolution” that will significantly reduce poverty and unemployment. It says
the government will improve tax administration, ease business regulations,
guarantee fair competition, and stimulate exports and innovation.
Khachatrian said on May 3 that Armenia’s business environment has already
improved significantly since last year’s “velvet revolution” which brought
Pashinian to power. The minister said the new government has broken up economic
monopolies, created a level playing field for all businesses and eliminated
“systemic corruption.”
German Lawmakers Visit Armenia, Karabakh
Armenia -- Legislators representing the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party
meet with parliament deputies fromt the Prosperous Armenia Party, Yerevan, May
27, 2019.
Federal and regional legislators representing Germany’s far-right Alternative
for Germany (AfD) party have visited Nagorno-Karabakh after meeting with senior
officials in Armenia earlier this week.
The AfD is Germany’s leading parliamentary opposition force, having finished
third in the last German general elections held in 2017. The party is known for
its Eurosceptic and anti-immigrant agenda.
The AfD delegation that arrived in Yerevan comprised four deputies of the
German parliament, Bundestag, and three members of the regional assembly of the
eastern German state of Brandenburg. They met with Armenia’s Deputy Minister of
Economic Development Mane Adamian on Monday.
According to an official press release, Adamian briefed the visiting
parliamentarians on economic reforms implemented by the Armenian government.
She also informed them that the government and the European Union are planning
to jointly organize an investment forum on Armenia in Germany this fall.
The German politicians also met with parliament deputies from the opposition
Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK). A statement by the Armenian parliament said the
two sides stressed the importance of “Germany’s role in democratic, legal and
economic reforms in our country.”
Most members of the AfD delegation, including Bundestag deputies Steffen Kotre
and Stefan Keuter, traveled to Stepanakert on Wednesday. Accompanied by an
Armenian pro-government lawmaker, they laid flowers at a local memorial to
Karabakh Armenian victims of the 1991-1994 war with Azerbaijan before meeting
with members of the Karabakh parliament.
The parliament’s deputy speaker, Vahram Balayan, congratulated the AfD on
winning 11 seats in the European Parliament in the May 26 elections. Balayan
also praised its “friendly relations” with Karabakh, according to a parliament
statement.
The statement quoted Kotre as saying that he and his AfD colleagues will use
their political influence to “deepen ties between Germany and Karabakh.”
While in Stepanakert, the German delegation also held a separate meeting with
Arayik Harutiunian, Karabakh’s former prime minister and one of the main
candidates in a presidential election that will be held in the
Armenian-populated territory next year. They reportedly discussed the
possibility of Karabakh-related initiatives by the European Parliament and
humanitarian aid programs in Karabakh.
The AfD and Harutiunian’s Free Fatherland party have maintained contacts since
2015, prompting strong criticism from Azerbaijan.
Armenian Opposition ‘Kept In Dark’ About Judicial Vetting Bill
• Gayane Saribekian
ARMENIA -- Supporters of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian block the entrance to
the Constitutional Court building in Yerevan, May 20, 2019.
The two opposition parties represented in the Armenian parliament deplored on
Thursday a lack of transparency in government efforts to enact legislation for
a mandatory “vetting” of the country’s judges demanded by Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian.
Pashinian moved to purge the judiciary after a Yerevan court controversially
ordered former President Robert Kocharian released from custody on May 18
pending the outcome of his high-profile trial. The premier said on May 20 that
Armenian judges lack public trust and must therefore be vetted based on their
“political ties, origin, property status and activities.”
The parliamentary leader of Pashinian’s My Step alliance, Lilit Makunts,
declared on Wednesday that pro-government lawmakers are already finalizing a
bill on such vetting. She called on the opposition Prosperous Armenia (BHK) and
Bright Armenia (LHK) parties to submit “proposals as to what they want that
vetting bill to contain.”
Both parties dismissed the offer as disingenuous, saying that they are hearing
about the bill for the first time and are completely uninformed about its
essence. They said that they should have been involved in the drafting process
from the outset.
“You should create a [multi-party] group and work in that format, instead of
saying that ‘we are working on something and if you have concerns or proposals
share them with us,’” LHK leader Edmon Marukian told Makunts on the parliament
floor. “What should we submit proposals on? How do we know what you’ve written?”
Armenia -- Bright Armenia Party leader Edmon Marukian speaks during a
parliament session in Yerevan, April 16, 2019.
Another LHK parliamentarian, Taron Simonian, echoed that criticism. “The
authorities should present us with their views, [reform] toolkit and
[legislative] package before we can put forward our views about it,” he told
RFE/RL’s Armenian service.
Simonian warned against the creation of a new “judicial system beneficial for
the political authorities.”
A senior BHK figure, deputy parliament speaker Vahe Enfiajian, similarly said
that any opposition input will be “meaningless” as long as the pro-government
majority keeps the key points of the vetting bill confidential.
“I don’t find it expedient to release substantive details [of the bill] at the
moment,” insisted Makunts.She said the bill will be publicized within a month.
The opposition criticism came as a high-level delegation of the Council of
Europe arrived in Yerevan for two-day consultations with Armenian leaders,
including Pashinian and parliament speaker Ararat Mirzoyan, regarding the
judicial reform. The Strasbourg-based organization said last week that
officials from various Council of Europe structures will “offer advice and
assistance with the necessary reforms” during the visit.
In a May 22 phone call, Pashinian assured Council of Europe Secretary General
Thorbjorn Jagland that the reforms will conform to Armenia’s constitution and
international commitments.
Press Review
“Haykakan Zhamanak” reports that former President Robert Kocharian has met with
his supporters at a Yerevan hotel belonging to his family and “expressed
interesting thoughts” there. “In particular, he said that ten years ago he
thought that the main events of his life are now a thing of the past and that a
very quiet and predictable life awaits him,” writes the pro-government paper.
It says Kocharian had thus prepared to enjoy his political retirement after
“running the country for ten years.” It also scoffs at the ex-president’s
remark that the criminal proceedings launched him are a powerful incentive for
his renewed political activities.
“Zhamanak” says Kocharian’s speech was short on specifics and contained no
“revelations regarding the future.” “The second president has nothing to say or
to do and is only imitating that he enjoys public support,” writes the paper
very critical of him. “On the other hand, in line with a scenario written by
him or a foreign power he is trying to provoke the society into civil clashes.”
It also says that Kocharian lacks a “serious team and program” and that “his
party is billions of dollars stolen from us.”
“This also means that Kocharian continues to be regarded as an alternative to
the current authorities,” writes “Aravot.” “A bad, wrong and undesirable one
but still an alternative, which is not a positive phenomenon in itself.” The
paper says one of the achievements of last year’s velvet revolution is that
“political life stopped revolving around the first three presidents” of
Armenia. It is therefore worried about their renewed involvement in Armenian
politics.
“Zhoghovurd” dismisses critics’ claims that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s
visit to Kazakhstan (where he attended a summit of the Eurasian Economic Union)
was a failure. In that regard, the paper downplays the fact that Pashinian did
not meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the summit.
“Such a meeting was not planned at all,” it says.
(Anush Mkrtchian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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