Friday,
Armenian Parliament Demands Dismissal Of Constitutional Court Head
• Ruzanna Stepanian
Armenia -- Speaker Ararat Mirzoyan casts a ballot in a parliament vote on a
resolution demanding the dismissal of Constitutional Court Chairman Hrayr
Tovmasian, Yerevan, October 4, 2019.
The Armenian parliament formally appealed to the Constitutional Court on Friday
to replace its chairman, Hrayr Tovmasian, who is increasingly at loggerheads
with the country’s political leadership.
In a resolution drafted by its pro-government majority, the parliament
denounced, among other things, his handling of appeals against the legality of
coup charges brought against the arrested former President Robert Kocharian.
The resolution 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).
The Constitutional Court has to discuss the appeal and respond to it within 30
days. Tovmasian will be sacked if at least six of the court’s nine judges vote
against him. Parliament speaker Ararat Mirzoyan assured reporters that the
parliament majority will accept any decision made by the court.
Tovmasian, who was installed as court chairman by Armenia’s previous leadership
overthrown in the 2018 “Velvet Revolution,” strongly denies violations of the
due process, political bias and conflict of interest alleged by the 94-page
resolution.
He charged earlier this week that the authorities are seeking to oust him in
order to gain control over the high court and be able to make unconstitutional
decisions. Tovmasian said he will not bow to the pressure despite the recent
arrests of two individuals linked to him.
Senior lawmakers from Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s My Step alliance
condemned Tovmasian’s latest statements when the National Assembly debated the
appeal to the Constitutional Court on Thursday. One of them, Lilit Makunts,
dismissed his claims as “political.”
The 132-member parliament adopted the appeal by 98 votes to 1. The document was
backed by not only My Step’s deputies but also their colleagues representing
the opposition Bright Armenia Party.
The other parliamentary opposition force, businessman Gagik Tsarukian’s
Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK), refused to back the initiative and its 26
deputies did not take part in the vote. Tsarukian said on Wednesday that the
ruling bloc has come up with “very weak” arguments in support of its bid to
oust Tovmasian.
In a September 4 ruling read out by Tovmasian, the court declared
unconstitutional a legal provision used by investigators against former
President Kocharian. Pashinian called the 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 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.
Kocharian Undergoes Another Medical Checkup
• Artak Khulian
Armenia -- Former President Robert Kocharian waves to supporters during his
trial, Yerevan, September 20, 2019.
Armenia’s jailed former President Robert Kocharian underwent on Thursday a
medical examination in a hospital in Yerevan for the second time in less than a
week.
A spokeswoman for Armenia’s penitentiary service said on Friday that Kocharian
was taken back to prison after being examined at the Izmirlian Medical Center.
The official, Nona Navikian, declined to say whether he has health problems.
Kocharian was already taken to the private hospital on Monday. One of his
lawyers, Hayk Alumian, told RFE/RL’s Armenian’s service that he was not
examined in full and therefore needed another checkup.
Alumian also said that he cannot comment on Kocharian’s health status because
the results of the checkup are not yet known.
The 65-year-old ex-president, who ruled Armenia from 1998-2008, is a keen
sportsman known for his healthy lifestyle and love of physical activity.
Kocharian, who was arrested again in June, currently stands trial on coup and
corruption charges mostly stemming from the 2008 post-election violence in
Yerevan. He rejects them as politically motivated.
U.S. Lawmakers Seek More Aid For Democracy In Armenia
U.S. – Capitol Building in Washington.
The U.S. Congress is expected to allocate later this year up to $40 million in
financial assistance designed to support democratic reforms in to Armenia.
The House of Representatives earmarked the sum in a bill on U.S. foreign aid
for the next financial year passed in June. The funding was proposed by its
pro-Armenian members, notably Jackie Speier.
Speier cited last year’s democratic “Velvet Revolution” in Armenia when she
spoke on the House floor. “It is very important at this point in time that we
do everything in our power to support this new democracy,” she said.
“Armenia has a rare and potentially fleeting window of opportunity to
consolidate and build upon its democratic gains,” added the Democrat from
California.
A separate foreign aid bill approved by the U.S. Senate’s Committee on
Appropriations last week similarly calls for an unspecified amount of funding
that would “further democratic and economic reforms” in Armenia. It would come
in addition to about $20 million in economic and security aid to the South
Caucasus nation recommended by the panel.
The bill has to be passed by the full Senate before the two congressional
chambers can reach an agreement on the amount of democracy aid to Armenia.
Both measures were welcomed by the two main Armenian lobby groups in the United
States: the Armenian Assembly of America and the Armenian National Committee of
America.
“We will try to advance the House version as the version that the
administration [of President Donald Trump] should work with versus the Senate
version,” Bryan Ardouny, the Assembly’s executive director, told RFE/RL’s
Armenian service.
U.S. -- Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian meets with the Armenian
Assembly's co-chairs, Van Krikorian (R) and Anthony Barsamian, and executive
director, Bryan Ardouny (L), New York, September 24, 2019.
“It’s an opportunity for Armenia to solidify its democratic institutions and
this aid is needed to do that,” said Ardouny. “It also shows the ongoing
support and strong relations between the U.S. and Armenia.”
The Assembly co-chair, Van Krikorian, called for $100 million in democracy and
economic aid to Armenia when he testified before a House subcommittee in March.
The United States should “reward people who have made progress towards
democracy,” he said.
Later in March, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, who led the 2018 revolution,
criticized the U.S. for what he called a lack of adequate “reaction” to
democratic change in Armenia. He seemed unhappy with Washington’s failure to
significantly increase economic aid to his country which totaled roughly $23
million in 2017.
The U.S. ambassador in Yerevan, Lynne Tracy, countered afterwards that
Washington provided $26.7 million in assistance to Yerevan last year in
addition to an ongoing $66 million aid program implemented by the U.S. Agency
for International Development (USAID).
The Armenian Foreign Ministry announced in May that the U.S. government will
provide up to $16 million to foster economic growth and good governance in
Armenia. Also, it said, the USAID will allocate $6 million in support of the
Armenian government’s “democratic reform agenda.”
Press Review
“Haykakan Zhamanak” scoffs at Constitutional Court Chairman Hrayr Tovmasian’s
latest televised interview in which he compared himself to Armenian soldiers
who are deployed on the border with Azerbaijan to defend their homeland. The
pro-government paper says that Tovmasian thereby also compared Prime Minister
Nikol Pashinian and the ruling My Step bloc to Azerbaijan’s rulers extremely
hostile to Armenia. “This is a fairly tough statement,” it says. “So tough that
even Republicans and Dashnaktsutyun members do not dare to use such wording.
Such a vocabulary is more characteristic of the few well-funded and aggressive
fringe groups. By making such a statement Hrayr Tovmasian aligned himself to
those groups.”
“Aravot” questions, meanwhile, the wisdom of the authorities’ efforts to oust
Tovmasian. The paper points out that ever since its establishment in 1996
Armenia’s Constitutional Court has practically always made decisions favorable
for the ruling regimes, acting like their “puppet.” “This is a serious problem
which requires an institutional solution,” it says. “Going after the current
chairman of the Constitutional Court is not such a solution. It will simply
prolong the current unenviable state of that body and lay the groundwork for
further crises.”
“Zhamanak” reports that Armenia’s Investigative Committee has moved to annul
the “illegal” privatization by former senior officials of forests around the
resort town of Tsaghkadzor. The paper says law-enforcement authorities are also
seeking to nationalize land located in and around a free economic zone near the
town of Meghri on the Armenian-Iranian border. It had been privatized by other
former government officials. “Those plots were privatized at very low prices
for the purpose of being sold back to the state for the free economic zone at
higher prices,” writes the paper. It hopes that “the example of Tsaghkadzor
will reach Meghri as soon as possible.”
(Lilit Harutiunian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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