Friday,
Former Ruling Party Set To Run In Snap Elections
• Ruzanna Stepanian
Armenia - Vahram Baghasarian of the Republican Party of Armenia speaks at a
news conference in Yerevan, .
Former President Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) gave more
indications on Friday that it will participate in early parliamentary elections
expected in December.
A senior HHK figure, Vahram Baghdasarian, said the party will hold a conference
“in the coming days” to finally decide whether to enter the parliamentary race.
“Our aim is to form a parliament befitting a parliamentary republic,” he told
reporters. “We are entering the [new] National Assembly to show and restore our
face. We will be a radical-constructive opposition force.”
Baghdasarian said the conference will also decide who will top the list of the
HHK’s candidates in case of its participation in the elections. He declined to
specify whether Sarkisian would the party’s top candidate.
Sarkisian, who ruled Armenia from 2008-2018,has made very few public
appearances and statements since mass protests led by Nikol Pashinian, the
country’s current prime minister, forced him to resign in April.
According to some media reports, the HHK’s electoral list will likely be headed
by former Defense Minister Vigen Sargsian, a U.S.-educated protégé of the
ex-president.
The HHK won Armenia’s last parliamentary elections held in April 2017.
Observers believe that it is now too unpopular to make a strong showing in
December. Some of them say that it would fail to win any parliament seats.
Earlier this month, the HHK leadership tried unsuccessfully to delay the snap
polls until next May or June.
Baghdasarian and another leading HHK member, Eduard Sharmazanov, argued against
an election boycott when they spoke to RFE/RL’s Armenian service last week.
Sharmazanov said the former ruling party is now Armenia’s sole genuine
opposition force and must therefore be represented in the new parliament.
Bolton Satisfied With ‘Productive’ Talks In Armenia
Armenia - U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton speaks at a news
conference in Yerevan, .
John Bolton, U.S. President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, described
Armenia on Friday as an “important friend” of the United States after visiting
the country and meeting with its leaders.
“Yesterday I had a nice visit to Armenia, an important friend in the region,”
Bolton wrote on his Twitter page. “I enjoyed productive conversations with the
Prime Minister [Nikol Pashinian] and his national security team.”
Bolton also retweeted a U.S. Embassy post that quoted him as telling Pashinian
that the U.S. supports the new Armenian government’s “efforts to address
corruption, increase judicial transparency and enhance the government’s
accountability to its citizens in ways that strengthen democracy, rule of law
and regional stability.”
Speaking in Yerevan, Bolton said he discussed with Pashinian a “very wide range
of subjects,” notably the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. He said Washington expects
the Armenian leader to take “decisive steps” towards a compromise peace deal
with Azerbaijan after his widely anticipated victory in upcoming general
elections.
Bolton also indicated that the Trump administration is ready to allow Yerevan
to buy U.S. weapons and thus reduce Russia’s “excessive influence” on Armenia.
The Trump adviser noted that Russia has been the principal arms supplier of
both Armenia and Azerbaijan. That has given Moscow “enormous leverage” against
the two warring nations but “not contributed to the resolution” of the
conflict, he said.
Together with France, the U.S. and Russia have long been jointly spearheading
international efforts to broker a Karabakh settlement.
Azerbaijan -- U.S. National security adviser John Bolton, second left, and
Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev, right, during talks in Baku, Azerbaijan,
Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2018.
Armenian officials have not yet publicly commented on Bolton’s surprise offer.
One of them said earlier this month that Yerevan is seeking yet another Russian
government loan for more arms acquisitions from Russian manufacturers.
The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), a Washington-based lobbying
group, voiced concern at some of Bolton’s statements later on Thursday.
“Bolton expressed openness to U.S. arms sales to Armenia, which - almost
certainly - would happen in the context of such sales to Azerbaijan,” it said
in a statement. “The danger here is that Azerbaijan, given the size of its
military budget, can afford significantly more advanced U.S. arms than Armenia
- leading to imbalances both on the battlefield and in terms of political
relationships.”
Armenia’s relations with neighboring Iran and renewed U.S. sanctions against
Tehran were another major theme of Bolton’s talks in Yerevan.
In an interview with RFE/RL’s Armenian service, Bolton said he told Pashinian
that the Trump administration will enforce those sanctions “very vigorously.”
For that reason, he said, the Armenian-Iranian border, one of Armenia’s few
conduits to the outside world, is “going to be a significant issue.”
“Obviously, we don’t want to cause damage to our friends in the process,” added
the U.S. official.
The ANCA said in this regard that it “will work with key government
stakeholders to ensure that regional sanctions do not improperly or unduly
impact Armenia.”
Jailed Armenian General Offers Land To State
• Naira Bulghadarian
Armenia - General Manvel Grigorian attends an event organized by the Yerkrapah
Union, 5 March 2018.
Manvel Grigorian, a retired Armenian army general arrested in June on
corruption charges, has offered to donate vast land holdings to the state, it
emerged on Friday.
Grigorian’s lawyer, Levon Baghdasarian, said the 330-hectare plot owned by him
is part of a beaver fur farm located in a village about 40 kilometers west of
Yerevan.
“Real estate experts estimate its minimum market value at about $10 million,”
Baghdasarian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am).
Baghdasarian claimed that the offer extended to the Armenian government is a
gesture of good which is not aimed at pleasing the public or ensuring his
lenient treatment by the authorities. He argued that his client continues to
deny the grave accusations levelled against him.
Grigorian was arrested when security forces raided his properties in and around
the town of Echmiadzin on June 16. They found many weapons, ammunition,
medication and field rations for soldiers provided by the Armenian Defense
Ministry.
They also discovered canned food and several vehicles donated by Armenians at
one of Grigorian’s mansions. A widely publicized official video of the raids
caused shock and indignation in the country.
The Armenian parliament, of which Grigorian is a member, was quick to allow
investigators to keep him under arrest him on charges of illegal arms
possession and embezzlement. The once powerful general denies the accusations.
Grigorian’s lawyers have repeatedly demanded his release from pre-trial
custody, saying that the 61-year-old is suffering from a number of serious
illnesses. Armenian law-enforcement bodies and courts have ignored those
demands so far. It remains unclear when he will go on trial.
Grigorian served as Armenia’s deputy defense minister from 2000-2008. Until his
arrest he was also the chairman of the Yerkrapah Union of Karabakh war
veterans, an organization which was particularly influential in the 1990s and
the early 2000s. He was reelected to the parliament last year on the ticket of
then President Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party.
Press Review
“Zhamanak” describes as sensational U.S. National Security Adviser John
Bolton’s effective offer to Armenia to buy U.S.-manufactured weapons and other
military hardware. The pro-Western paper says Washington has never expressed
readiness to supply weapons to Yerevan before. It says this development
underlines the need for Armenia to be “sovereign,” rather than heavily
dependent on Russia.
Lragir.am also comments on Bolton’s “surprise” statement on possible arms
supplies to Armenia. The publication is also encouraged by his remarks on the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, speculating that Washington is not forcing Armenia
to accept a peace deal with Azerbaijan not favorable to the Armenian side.
“They know in the United States that any coercion on the Artsakh (Karabakh)
issue makes Armenia more dependent on Russia and isolated from the
international community,” it says. “Besides, it strengthens pro-Russian
circles’ positions in Armenia.”
“Zhoghovurd” reports that some of Armenia’s leading medics and healthcare
professionals have appealed to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian to take action
against the recently appointed head of Armenia’s state-run Center for Mental
Health, Narek Vanesian. The latter reportedly behaved in a rude, offensive and
even violent way at an event in the Yerevan State Medical University (YSMU)
attended by two Nobel Prize winners visiting Armenia.
“His impudent behavior is hardly accidental,” comments “Zhoghovurd.” “Vanesian
is a friend of Health Minister Arsen Torosian and therefore enjoys the latter’s
support. What is more, Vanesian has hinted in many places that he played a
large role in Torosian’s appointment as minister.” The paper says the
government’s failure so far to hold him accountable makes mockery of Prime
Minister Nikol Pashinian’s claims that there are no longer privileged
individuals enjoying impunity in Armenia.
(Lilit Harutiunian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2018 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
www.rferl.org