Thursday, Armenian High Court Head Rejects ‘Political’ Pressure • Astghik Bedevian Armenia -- Constitutional Court Chairman Hrayr Tovmasian reads out a court verdict on an appeal filed by former President Robert Kocharian, September 4, 2019. The chairman of Armenia’s Constitutional Court, Hrayr Tovmasian, has denounced the ruling My Step alliance’s efforts to unseat him as politically motivated and accused the authorities of seeking potentially unrestricted powers. “In my view, this process is political and pursues one goal: to neutralize the Constitutional Court … as a hurdle, as an obstacle, as a body that could at some point block political decisions because they contradict the constitution,” he said in an interview with the ArmNews TV channel aired late on Wednesday. Tovmasian repeated his claims in a written statement issued on Thursday. It came as Armenia’s parliament began debating a draft resolution calling on Constitutional Court judges to replace their chairman. The resolution drafted by My Step and endorsed by senior government officials decries, among other things, Tovmasian’s handling of appeals against the legality of coup charges brought against the arrested former President Robert Kocharian. It also says that Tovmasian cannot make impartial decisions on this case because of his past membership in the former ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK). With My Step holding 88 seats in the 132-member National Assembly, the resolution will almost certainly be passed. Tovmasian will lose his post if at least six of the eight other Constitutional Court judges vote against him. In his statement, Tovmasian said he will boycott the parliament debate on the issue because he believes that the bid to oust him is driven by “political and subjective” considerations. He listed recent events which he said highlight ulterior motives behind it. Those include the May 2019 blockade of all court buildings in Armenia initiated by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and public statements by government loyalists questioning the legitimacy of most members of the Constitutional Court. Tovmasian also pointed to the recent arrests on corruption charges of two state officials linked to him. Armenia -- A session of the National Assembly, Yerevan, October 3, 2019. Alen Simonian, a senior My Step figure and deputy parliament speaker, hit back at the head of the country’s highest court. “It would be good if Mr. Tovmasian was present here,” Simonian said on the parliament floor. “I assess very negatively his latest statement and interview.” “In his statement he once again proved what everyone is now saying: he remains a representative of the Republican Party of Armenia,” charged the close associate of Pashinian. My Step’s initiative has been backed by the opposition Bright Armenia Party (LHK). But the other, larger parliamentary opposition force, the Prosperous Armenia (BHK), has refused to endorse it, saying that Pashinian’s bloc has presented “very weak” arguments. Gevorg Petrosian, a lawyer and senior BHK lawmaker, insisted on Thursday that Tovmasian did not commit “major disciplinary violations” during the Constitutional Court’s consideration of one of the appeals lodged by Kocharian. On September 4 the court declared unconstitutional a legal provision used by investigators against the former president. Pashinian called that ruling “illegal,” citing dissenting opinions voiced by two court judges. In a July interview with RFE/RL’s Armenian service, Pashinian accused Tovmasian of cutting political deals with HHK leader and former President Serzh Sarkisian to “privatize” the Constitutional Court in early 2018. Tovmasian responded by warning the government against trying to force him and his colleagues to resign. Armenia To Set Up Powerful Anti-Graft Body • Naira Nalbandian Armenia -- Ministers attend a weekly cabinet meeting in Yerevan, October 3, 2019. The Armenian government formally decided on Thursday to set up a new anti-corruption agency that will be empowered to prosecute state officials suspected of bribery, fraud and other corrupt practices. The Anti-Corruption Committee (ACC) will be created in 2021 as part of an anti-graft strategy and a three-year action plan adopted by the government at a weekly meeting in Yerevan. The ACC will inherit most of its law-enforcement powers from the existing Special Investigative Service (SIS) tasked with combatting various crimes committed by state officials. The strategy drawn up by the Armenian Justice Ministry sets a three-year “transitional period” during which other law-enforcement bodies will still be able to deal with corruption-related offenses. The government will also give more powers to the Commission on Preventing Corruption formed under the former Armenian authorities. The commission has until now been primarily charged with scrutinizing income and asset declarations submitted by senior officials and investigating possible conflicts of interest among them. Speaking at the cabinet meeting, Justice Minister Rustam Badasian said Armenian judges will now be a key focus of the commission’s activities. The state body will be allowed to launch disciplinary proceedings against judges suspected of having dubiously acquired assets, he said. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian confirmed that this “integrity verification” will be a substitute for a mandatory “vetting” of all Armenian judges which he demanded in May. “We realized that the word ‘vetting’ causes a great deal of allergy and decided to change the tile but keep the essence [of judicial reform,]” he said. Pashinian and other Armenian officials discussed the reform with a high-level delegation from the Council of Europe that visited Yerevan later in May. According to an internal report subsequently released by the Strasbourg-based organization’s Venice Commission, they agreed that “it would be neither necessary nor useful to carry out a general vetting of all sitting judges.” “Instead, disciplinary procedures should be strengthened and a link with the asset declaration system established,” said the report. Pashinian has repeatedly claimed to have eliminated “systemic corruption” in Armenia since coming to power in May 2018. During his, law-enforcement authorities have brought serious corruption charges against dozens of individuals, including close relatives and cronies of former President Serzh Sarkisian. The prime minister ordered law-enforcement authorities on September 20 to step up their anti-corruption efforts and, in particular, recover more public funds embezzled or wasted by former officials. Russian FM Critical Of Pashinian’s Karabakh Remark • Aza Babayan RUSSIA -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends a session of the annual Valdai Discussion Club in Sochi, October 2, 2019 Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has criticized Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian for describing Nagorno-Karabakh as an integral part of Armenia, saying that such statements hamper efforts to end the Karabakh conflict. Lavrov commented on the conflict when he spoke during an annual international forum held in the southern Russian city of Sochi on Wednesday. “As regards the situation on the ground, it is much calmer now than it was one year ago,” he said. “But the political process is on hold and we have not yet managed to kick-start it.” “The parties are making quite serious statements,” he went on. “In particular, there has been a statement to the effect that Karabakh is Armenia, just like Albanian Prime Minister [Edi] Rama said from Tirana than Kosovo is Albania. This certainly does not help to create an atmosphere conducive to the resumption of the political [settlement] process.” Lavrov added that the Russian, U.S. and French mediators co-chairing the OSCE Minsk Group will continue press for the conflict’s resolution. “This is one of the few situations where we have the same vision,” he said. The Armenian Foreign Ministry dismissed the criticism on Thursday. “We find it important that each of the mediators avoids selective or one-sided evaluations,” said the ministry spokeswoman, Anna Naghdalian. She argued that Pashinian reaffirmed Armenia’s readiness for a compromise peace deal with Azerbaijan when he addressed the UN General Assembly in New York late last month. “Artsakh [Karabakh] is Armenia. Period,” Pashinian declared at a rally held in Stepanakert on August 5. Azerbaijan condemned that statement as provocative. RUSSIA -- Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev during their meeting in Sochi, October 3, 2019 Lavrov spoke one day before Russian President Vladimir Putin met with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev on the sidelines of the Valdai Forum in Sochi. Neither president mentioned the Karabakh conflict in his opening remarks at the talks publicized by the Kremlin. “For us, Russia is a very important partner, friend and good neighbor,” Aliyev told Putin. “We very much value this relationship.” Putin met with Pashinian on Tuesday on the sidelines of a Eurasian Economic Union summit held in Yerevan. Few details of their conversations were made public. Senior Armenian Lawmaker Under Fire Over Insult • Gayane Saribekian Armenia -- Andranik Kocharian, the chairman of the parliament committee on defense and security, attends a parliament session in Yerevan, October 3, 2019. A senior pro-government parliamentarian refused to apologize on Thursday for his offensive comments about former Justice Minister Arpine Hovannisian’s parents which have caused a storm of condemnation from Armenian opposition politicians and public figures. Andranik Kocharian, the chairman of the Armenian parliament committee on defense and security, made derogatory references to Hovannisian’s “mother and unknown father” on Wednesday after she mentioned him while criticizing government policies. Speaking to 24News.am earlier this week, Hovannisian said the authorities should scrutinize the assets of not only those former officials who served during former President Serzh Sarkisian’s rule but also those who held senior state positions in the 1990s. She named several such individuals, including Kocharian, who served as Armenia’s deputy defense minister from 1991-1995 and held a parliament seat from 1995-1999. Kocharian’s reaction to those remarks drew strong condemnations on social media from opposition leaders, other critics of the current government and even some supporters of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian. “I believe that insulting, mocking a woman or making her personal life a subject of public discussion because of her political activities is condemnable and extremely unacceptable,” said Edmon Marukian, the leader of the opposition Bright Armenia Party (LHK). “I apologize for this political culture.” Armenia’s human rights ombudsman, Arman Tatoyan, added his voice to the condemnations. “Targeting a personal or family is absolutely unacceptable without any exception, especially if we are talking about a woman,” he wrote. Significantly, the French ambassador to Armenia, Jonathan Lacote, shared Tatoyan’s “welcome and necessary reaction” on his Facebook page. Armenia - Justice Minister Arpine Hovannisian speaks to journalists during a congress of the ruling Republican Party, November 26, 2016. “Anything relating to the personal space, the private domain must have no place in our political speech,” said Lilit Makunts, the parliamentary leader of Pashinian’s My Step bloc. “I also want to stress that I would be very happy if such reaction [to Kocharian’s comments] from all sides was also displayed in all [similar] cases.” Makunts also said that she discussed the controversy with Kocharian. But she did not specify whether she urged him to apologize to Hovannisian. Such apologies were offered by Sasun Mikaelian, another prominent parliamentarian representing the ruling bloc. “If Andranik Kocharian said such a thing I apologize in his place,” Mikaelian told reporters. Kocharian himself remained unrepentant, however. He doubled down on his mockery of Hovannisian and her “unknown father” when approached by journalists. “Unknown means not known to the society,” said the Pashinian ally. “Yesterday the whole Facebook was looking [for Hovannisian’s] father and apparently found him. The unknown is now known.” Kocharian also hit out at Tevan Poghosian, a well-known pundit and former parliamentarian who also apologized to the former minister. “I phoned Tevan and said, ‘Tevan, what did you apologize for?’” he said. Hovannisian, 35, served as justice minister from 2015-2017 before becoming a deputy speaker of the former Armenian parliament elected in April 2017. She announced in February this year that she is suspending her membership in the former ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) to start a law practice and run a new think-tank. She remains a vocal critic of the country’s current leadership which ousted HHK leader Serzh Sarkisian from power in April 2018. Press Review Հոկտեմբեր 03, 2019 “Yerevan’s tough position on the Karabakh issue has created serious problems for Russia and Azerbaijan,” claims Lragir.am. “With negotiations frozen, the Russian plan can only be realized in a military way, which is also controversial and could blow up not only Azerbaijan but also Russia.” The publication speculates that this is what Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan will probably be discussing in Sochi on Thursday. It says Putin will also brief Aliyev on the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) summit in Yerevan. “Haykakan Zhamanak” says Putin proved wrong Pashinian detractors who had claimed that he will not attend the summit or avoid a bilateral meeting with the Armenian prime minister. The pro-government paper also slams them for playing up the significance of Putin’s meeting in Yerevan with former President Robert Kocharian’s wife Bella. It says that Armenians who did well during Kocharian’s rule now hope that thanks to Russia the former president will not only be freed from jail but also return to power. “Zhoghovurd” reports on the Prosperous Armenia (BHK) Party’s decision not to back government efforts to oust the chairman of the Constitutional Court, Hrayr Tovmasian. “There have been many meetings between Pashinian and [BHK leader Gagik] Tsarukian of late,” writes the paper. “It looks like they have not managed to reach a common denominator on this issue. And so the real fight between the BHK and [Pashinian’s] My Step got underway yesterday.” It recalls that one year ago the BHK already joined the former ruling Republican Party of Armenia in challenging Pashinian in the parliament. That development precipitated the holding of snap parliamentary elections in December. (Lilit Harutiunian) Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL Copyright (c) 2019 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc. 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org