Thursday, July 2, 2020 Pashinian Congratulates Putin On Referendum Win Russia -- President Vladimir Putin visits a polling station at the Russian Academy of Sciences to vote in a constitutional referendum, July 1, 2020. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian congratulated Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday on winning a controversial plebiscite on constitutional changes that, among other things, allow him to remain in power until 2036. “This event is indeed of fundamental importance for the further strengthening of Russian statehood,” Pashinian wrote in a congratulatory message to Putin released by his office. “I am confident that the amendments to the constitution approved by the overwhelming majority of Russians will create favorable conditions for your country’s continued progress and socioeconomic development,” he said. According to Russia’s Central Election Commission, 77.9 percent of voters endorsed the Kremlin-backed package of more than 200 changes to the Russian constitution. The most-controversial of them is one that resets Putin’s term-limit clock to zero, opening the way for him to run for reelection when his current six-year term expires in 2024 and again in 2030. The Kremlin has said the amendments are necessary for the country’s stability and security, while Putin’s critics charge they are a bid for the 67-year-old to secure power for life. The non-binding vote was marred by reports of irregularities at some polling stations and intimidation of activists and journalists. The European Union urged Russia on Thursday to investigate them. For its part, the U.S. mission to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe issued a statement saying it is “troubled by reports of Russian government efforts to manipulate the result of the vote.” Pashinian Allies Oppose Parliament Probe Into COVID-19 • Astghik Bedevian Armenia - An ambulance rescuer wearing personal protective equipment moves a patient into the Grigor Lusavorich Medical Centre in Yerevan on May 27, 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Senior lawmakers from Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s My Step bloc criticized their opposition colleagues on Thursday for pushing for a parliamentary inquiry into the Armenian authorities’ response to the continuing coronavirus crisis in the country. The opposition Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) demanded such an inquiry on June 17 after the pro-government majority in the parliament controversially lifted BHK leader Gagik Tsarukian’s immunity from prosecution. Bright Armenia (LHK), the second opposition party represented in the National Assembly, backed the proposed formation of an ad hoc parliamentary commission on the coronavirus crisis on the condition that it will be headed by a LHK lawmaker. The BHK accepted the condition. “The government has totally botched the fight against the coronavirus,” charged the LHK’s Gevorg Gorgisian. “The fact that Armenia has one of the worst records in the world … proves that there have been numerous shortcomings.” Gorgisian claimed that the government’s socioeconomic relief measures have also not served their purpose. “All this must definitely be the subject of an inquiry,” he said. Alen Simonian, a deputy parliament speaker and senior My Step figure, scoffed at the initiative, calling it “pathetic” and “untimely.” “The epidemic is not over and God knows when it will end,” he said. “So it is first and foremost too early to make evaluations.” Simonian also accused the BHK and the LHK of hypocrisy, saying that both parties have demanded the lifting of a ban on rallies imposed by the authorities in March as part of a coronavirus-related state of emergency. Narek Zeynalian, the chairman of the parliament committee on public health and social affairs, also objected to the opposition initiative. The Armenpress news agency quoted Zeynalian as saying that the parliament commission should be set up only after the end of the pandemic. Under Armenian law, ad hoc commissions must be set up if that is demanded by at least 33 members of the 132-seat parliament. The BHK and the LHK have submitted 37 signatures to parliament speaker Ararat Mirzoyan. Still, the parliament majority can thwart such an inquiry by refusing to formally endorse the commission’s composition. My Step already blocked early this year a parliamentary corruption probe into Yerevan’s pro-government Mayor Hayk Marutian in this fashion. According to Gorgisian, the parliament will discuss the issue in September, right after the end of its summer recess. Armenia has one of the highest COVID-19 infection rates in the world, with a total of 26,658 coronavirus cases recorded in the country of about 3 million as of Thursday morning. The official death toll from the disease stood at 459. Armenian Government Eyes COVID-19 Vaccine Supplies • Sargis Harutyunyan Russia -- A scientist examines COVID-19 infected cells under a microscope during research for a vaccine against the coronavirus at a laboratory of BIOCAD biotechnology company in Saint Petersburg, May 20, 2020. The Armenian government is negotiating with foreign corporations and international organizations in hopes of securing supplies of a potential coronavirus vaccine to Armenia beforehand, Health Minister Arsen Torosian announced on Thursday. Torosian said he is optimistic that such a vaccine will be developed in the coming months. “We are now holding negotiations in two directions,” he told a weekly cabinet meeting in Yerevan. “The first one is [drug] manufacturers. I am personally negotiating with them. “For example, yesterday I spoke with the commercial director of the [Massachusetts-based] Moderna company which is linked to our [Armenian-American] compatriot Noubar Afeyan. Their MRN 1723 vaccine … is one of the strongest vaccine candidates.” “We are also negotiating with the World Health Organization and UNICEF platforms that will be trying to make collective purchases to ensure that there is a proportionate distribution of large doses [of the vaccine] among numerous countries,” added Torosian. Armenia -- Health Minister Arsen Torosian speaks at a cabinet meeting, Yerevan, July 2, 2020. More than 100 vaccines are being developed and tested around the world to stop the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed hundreds of thousands and ravaged the global economy. None of the major drugmakers and research institutes has reported a successful completion of those tests so far. Torosian predicted that a much-anticipated COVID-19 vaccine may well be developed and be on the market before the end of this year. “The biggest risk here is that some countries could buy large quantities of manufactured or even not yet manufactured vaccines which will consequently reach other countries much later … That is why it is very important to start negotiations now, even before having a [developed] end product,” explained the minister. “According to various estimates, a vaccine will be available to countries at the end of 2020 or at the beginning of 2021,” he said. Armenia has one of the highest infection rates in the world, with a total of 26,658 coronavirus cases recorded in the country of about 3 million as of Thursday morning. According to the Armenian health authorities, 593 people tested positive for the virus on Wednesday. The authorities also reported the deaths of 10 more people infected with the disease. They said COVID-19 was the main cause of six of those fatalities which raised the official death toll to 459. Court Adjourns Hearing On Tsarukian’s Arrest • Naira Bulghadarian Armenia -- Gagik Tsarukian, the leader of the country's largest opposition party, speaks with the media outside a courthouse, Yerevan, June 18, 2020. Armenia’s Court of Appeals adjourned on Thursday the first hearing on the pre-trial arrest of Gagik Tsarukian, the indicted leader of the main opposition Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK), sought by prosecutors. The district court in Yerevan refused on June 21 to sanction Tsarukian’s arrest on vote buying charges rejected by him as politically motivated. Both the prosecutors and Tsarukian’s lawyers appealed against that decision. The lawyers objected to the court’s conclusion that investigators have grounds to suspect that the BHK leader handed out vote bribes during parliamentary elections held in 2017. One of Tsarukian’s lawyers, Emin Khachatrian, said the Court of Appeals rescheduled the hearing for July 7 because it has not yet received all petitions and other documents which the litigants sent to it by post. The prosecutors kept pressing for Tsarukian’s arrest even after it emerged on Tuesday that he has been infected with the coronavirus. According to Khachatrian, Tsarukian stays mostly at home while visiting a Yerevan hospital for treatment on a daily basis. The National Security Service (NSS) says that Tsarukian “created and led an organized group” that bought more than 17,000 votes for the BHK during the 2017 elections. It claims to have collected documents showing that a BHK candidate, Vazgen Poghosian, distributed vote bribes to residents of the Gegharkunik province. The NSS also says that Poghosian has given incriminating testimony against Tsarukian. Khachatrian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service that Tsarukian and Poghosian were brought face to face and interrogated by the NSS recently. He said the joint interrogation only reinforced the defense lawyers’ belief that the criminal case against their client is baseless. But he did not give any details. Tsarukian, who is one of the country’s wealthiest persons, and his party maintain that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian ordered the criminal proceedings in response to the BHK leader’s June 5 calls for the government’s resignation. Pashinian and law-enforcement authorities deny that the case is politically motivated. Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL Copyright (c) 2020 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc. 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.