RFE/RL Armenian Report – 02/12/2020

                                        Wednesday, 

Former Security Chief Sues Pashinian’s Paper

        • Marine Khachatrian

Armenia -- Prime Miinister Nikol Pashinian and National Security Service 
Director Artur Vanetsian (R) walk in downtown Yerevan, September 21, 2018.

One week after announcing his entry into politics, Artur Vanetsian, the former 
chief of Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS), has filed a defamation 
lawsuit against a newspaper controlled by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s 
family.

In an unsigned article published last month, the “Haykakan Zhamanak” daily 
alleged that Vanetsian is behind slanderous reports about Pashinian and his 
family members spread by anti-government media. It said the main “ideologist” of 
this campaign is a former senior official linked to Mikael Minasian, former 
President Serzh Sarkisian’s son-in-law.

Pashinian’s 21-year-old daughter Mariam added her voice to the allegations. The 
prime minister likewise charged later in January that the alleged smear campaign 
was part of what he called a “hybrid” conspiracy to discredit and overthrow him.

Vanetsian strongly denied the allegations and demanded that the paper, which is 
still officially run by Pashinian’s wife Anna Hakobian, retract them. One of his 
lawyers, Aramazd Kivirian, told RFE/RL’s Armenian service on Wednesday that he 
has sued the paper because it rejected the demand.

“Haykakan Zhamanak” declined to comment on the lawsuit.

The former NSS director suggested last week that the paper, which Pashinian had 
long edited before being first elected to the Armenian parliament in 2012, 
intended to “slander” him, rather than reveal any scandalous facts. “If they had 
any facts and needed to verify them they would have taken certain steps,” he 
told the editors of nine other Armenian publications.

Pashinian appointed Vanetsian as director of the former Armenian branch of the 
Soviet KGB immediately after coming to power in the “Velvet Revolution” of 
April-May 2018. Vanetsian quickly became one of the most influential members of 
the Armenia’s new leadership, overseeing a number of high-profile corruption 
investigations.

The 40-year-old was unexpectedly relieved of his duties in September just a 
couple of months after being promoted to the rank of NSS general. He criticized 
Pashinian’s “impulsive” leadership style following his dismissal, triggering a 
bitter war of words with the premier.

Hrachya Hakobian, a pro-government parliamentarian and Pashinian’s 
brother-in-law, claimed shortly after the “Haykakan Zhamanak” article that 
Vanetsian was sacked because of plotting a coup. The NSS said, however, that it 
is not aware of any coup attempts and will not look into Hakobian’s claims.

Speaking to the newspaper editors on February 5, Vanetsian announced that he is 
setting up a new political party to challenge Pashinian’s government.




Pashinian Discusses Constitutional Referendum With Foreign Envoys


Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian (C) meets with ambassadors of OSCE 
member countries, Yerevan,12Feb,2020

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian met with Yerevan-based foreign diplomats on 
Wednesday to discuss his administration’s controversial decision to hold a 
referendum on replacing most members of Armenia’s Constitutional Court.

The diplomats invited to the meeting included the ambassadors of Russia, the 
United States and European Union member states as well as the head of the EU 
Delegation in Armenia.

“During the meeting, the prime minister addressed in detail the existing 
situation around the Constitutional Court, the forthcoming referendum on 
constitutional changes and the circumstances of holding it,” Pashinian’s press 
office said in a statement.

He then answered questions from the diplomats, the statement said. It gave no 
other details.

Parliament speaker Ararat Mirzoyan, a key Pashinian ally, met with the 
ambassadors the night before the Armenian parliament decided on February 6 to 
hold a referendum on constitutional amendments drafted by its pro-government 
majority.

The amendments call for ending the powers of seven of the nine Constitutional 
Court judges accused by Pashinian of being linked to Armenia’s “corrupt former 
regime.” Opposition lawmakers reject them as unconstitutional. They say that the 
authorities should have consulted with legal experts from the Council of 
Europe’s Venice Commission before putting the proposed changes on the referendum 
scheduled for April 5.

Two representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe 
(PACE) likewise urged the authorities last week to submit the draft amendments 
to the Venice Commission for examination “as soon as possible.” A senior 
Armenian lawmaker countered that Yerevan is under no legal obligation to seek 
such judgment.

Russia, the U.S. and other Western powers have made no public statements on the 
Armenian referendum so far.




Armenian Government May Set Up Interior Ministry

        • Artak Khulian

Armenia -- The national police headquarters in Yerevan, February 4, 2020.

The Armenian government is considering creating a ministry of interior as part 
of a major structural reform of the national police service proposed by the 
Justice Ministry.

Armenia had an interior ministry until former President Robert Kocharian 
abolished it and turned the police into a separate structure subordinate to him 
nearly two decades ago. The police became accountable to the prime minister 
after Kocharian’s successor, Serzh Sarkisian, engineered the country’s 
transition to a parliamentary system of government.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian faced opposition calls to turn the police as well 
as the National Security Service (NSS) into ministries accountable to the 
parliament after he swept to power in May 2018. Pashinian and his allies have 
until now opposed such a change championed by the opposition Bright Armenia 
Party (LHK).

It emerged this week that the Justice Ministry recommended the re-establishment 
of the Interior Ministry headed by a full-fledged cabinet member in a three-year 
strategy of police reforms proposed to the Armenian government.

“From our perspective, what we have now is a police service meeting the 
requirements of the Soviet state order,” Deputy Justice Minister Kristine 
Grigorian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service on Wednesday.

Grigorian also stressed the importance of other structural changes proposed by 
her ministry. One of them envisages the creation of a new police unit tasked 
with road policing, crowd control and street patrol.

Grigorian said that the strategy posted on a government website is currently 
under discussion and may undergo changes. The police are also involved in the 
discussions, she said.

Armenian law currently requires the heads of the police and the NSS to be 
high-ranking career officers.Both security agencies have been headed by interim 
heads since September. Pashinian has yet to decide who will manage them on a 
permanent basis.




Armenian PM Again Warns ‘Anti-State’ Forces

        • Ruzanna Stepanian

Armenia -- Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian speaks during a parliament debate on 
constitutional changes, Yerevan, February 6, 2020.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Wednesday warned his political opponents 
against appealing to Armenia’s Constitutional Court in a bid to scuttle 
controversial constitutional changes sought by him.

Pashinian already issued a stark warning to them last week as the Armenian 
parliament controlled by his My Step bloc decided to hold a referendum on draft 
amendments that would sack seven of the court’s nine judges facing government 
pressure to resign.

“All those individuals or forces who will try to put legal or other hurdles to a 
free expression of the people’s will receive an adequate counterstrike as 
anti-popular and anti-state forces,” he declared on February 6.

The warning prompted an angry response from Edmon Marukian, the leader of the 
opposition Bright Armenia Party (LHK) which regards the draft amendments as 
unconstitutional. Marukian accused Pashinian of “blackmail,” saying that the 
latter may have threatened violent attacks against the LHK or other opposition 
groups.

Pashinian hit back at Marukian, his erstwhile ally, during his government’s 
latest question-and-answer session in the National Assembly. He said the 
opposition leader dares to lambaste the current government because of being 
confident that it will never resort to violence.

Pashinian also said: “I implied [on February 6] that if this decision to hold 
the referendum is challenged in the Constitutional Court we will evaluate that 
in this way. Why? Because we are saying, ‘Let’s ask the people and ensure a free 
expression of the people’s will.’”

“If there is a force which says, ‘No, I don’t want to ask the people and will 
ask the Constitutional Court instead,’ a certain conclusion will be drawn from 
that, especially in this situation,” he added.


Armenia - Nikol Pashinian (C) and Edmon Marukian (R), leaders o the opposition 
Yelk alliance, campaign for mayoral elections in Yerevan, 21Apr2017.

The LHK and the other parliamentary opposition party, Prosperous Armenia (BHK), 
can still prevent the holding of the April 5 referendum if their parliament 
deputies appeal to the Constitutional Court and convince it to declare the 
amendments unconstitutional. Such appeals must be signed by at least 27 members 
of the 132-seat parliament. The BHK and the LHK control 26 and 17 parliament 
seats respectively.

Marukian on Tuesday reaffirmed his party’s readiness to challenge the referendum 
in the court. BHK leader Gagik Tsarukian indicated, however, that BHK lawmakers 
will not back such a move.

Pashinian also claimed on Wednesday that campaigning for the referendum will 
stimulate economic activity in Armenia by boosting citizens’ “confidence in the 
future.” Also, he said, “many” Armenians living abroad will heed his appeals and 
travel to their home country and vote for ousting the high court judges.

“We seem to be creating a new type of tourism which is called electoral 
tourism,” he declared.

Pashinian appealed to hundreds of thousands of Armenian expats immediately after 
President Armen Sarkissian set the referendum date on Sunday. Some of his 
critics construed the appeal as a sign that he is worried about not garnering 
enough votes for the constitutional amendments.

To pass, the amendments have to be backed by the majority of referendum 
participants making up at least one-quarter of Armenia’s 2.57 million or so 
eligible voters.


Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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Emil Lazarian

“I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered. Go ahead, destroy Armenia . See if you can do it. Send them into the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia.” - WS