Friday,
Sarkisian Allies Oppose Election Boycott
• Gayane Saribekian
Armenia - President Serzh Sarkisian speaks at the official launch of his
Republican Party's election campaign in Yerevan, 5Mar2017.
Senior representatives of former President Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party
of Armenia (HHK) said on Friday that it should participate in forthcoming snap
parliamentary elections.
The HHK, which retains the largest faction in the current Armenian parliament,
has reluctantly dropped its objections to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s
efforts to hold the elections in December, rather than next May or June.
Observers believe that it is now too unpopular to make a strong showing in the
vote.
The HHK’s executive body discussed the matter at a meeting late on Thursday
chaired by Sarkisian. It announced no final decisions afterwards.
“We have not yet made a decision,” the HHK’s parliamentary leader, Vahram
Baghdasarian, told RFE/RL’s Armenian service on Friday. “Discussions are
continuing.”
Baghdasarian said he and most other senior Republicans want their party to
enter parliamentary race. “I think that participation [in the elections] is the
right thing to do,” he said.
Baghdasarian cautioned, though, that the HHK leadership needs to evaluate its
current approval rating and other “resources” before making a final decision.
Eduard Sharmazanov, the HHK spokesman and a deputy parliament speaker, also
argued against boycotting the snap polls.
“It’s obvious that Pashinian is headed for victory and nobody can doubt it, at
least at this stage,” Sharmazanov told RFE/RL’s Armenian service. “And our
state, our parliament, and our state system need a real opposition, not a fake
opposition.”
“We think that both a strong opposition and a strong government are needed,” he
said. “Or else, we will have a new political monopoly and no serious checks and
balances. So we have to take part in the elections in order to be a real
counterweight.”
Sharmazanov insisted that the HHK, which dominated Armenian politics for more
than a decade, has been the country’s sole truly opposition force ever since
Pashinian swept to power in May. “Everyone else applauds Pashinian, either
overtly or not overtly,” he said.
Sarkisian has made very public appearances and statements since Pashinian-led
mass protests forced him to resign in April. It is not yet clear whether he
supports his party’s participation in the December elections and is ready to
top its list of candidates.
Workers Protest Closure Of Armenian Copper Plant
• Karine Simonian
Armenia - A poster saying "We demand work" is displayed by workers protesting
against the closure of a copper smelter in Alaverdi, .
Hundreds of workers of a copper smelter in northern Armenia blocked a major
highway on Friday in protest against its closure resulting from the
government’s decision to enforce strict environmental regulations there.
The Soviet-built plant located in the town of Alaverdi was recently fined
$800,000 for exceeding air pollution quotas set by the government in 2005. The
former Armenian authorities avoided punishing the plant for that.
Citing financial problems, the plant’s parent company, Vallex Group, said that
it is unable to pay the fine and comply with the pollution caps. It warned last
week that it will have to shut down the smelter and lay off more than 600
people working there unless the government reverses the punitive measures.
Subsequent negotiations between Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinian and the
Vallex chairman, Valeri Mejlumian, yielded no agreement. Avinian said earlier
this week that the Alaverdi plant causes serious environmental damage and
should be replaced by a larger and more modern facility.
As production operations at the plant were brought to a halt on Friday many of
the workers took to the streets to voice support for Vallex’s demands. They
blocked a highway passing through Alaverdi.
“Can anyone [from the government] come here explain to these 630 families [of
workers] what fate awaits them?” said one of the protesters. “All we want is
jobs.”
Eduard Sharmazanov, an Alaverdi-born deputy speaker of the Armenian parliament
representing the former ruling Republican Party, voiced support for the
protesters’ demands in a written appeal to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.
“I am calling on you to do everything possible and impossible so that the
Alaverdi copper smelter continues to operate,” said Sharmazanov. “Or else, 650
families could choose the path of emigration.”
The government did not immediately react to the protests.
Vallex is currently in serious financial trouble, having lost control over
Armenia’s second largest copper and molybdenum mine after failing repay its
massive debts to a Russian commercial bank. The bank, VTB, had lent Vallex the
bulk of $380 million which was invested in mining and ore-processing facilities
at the Teghut deposit also located in the Lori province.
Vallex shut down the mine in January because of being unable to refurbish its
waste disposal facility. Most of the 1,200 or so people working at Teghut lost
their jobs as a result. VTB took over the mine in payment for the debt.
Vallex used the Alaverdi plant as collateral when it secured the loan from VTB.
It could therefore lose control of that facility as well.
Pashinian Defends Controversial Choice Of Provincial Governor
• Sisak Gabrielian
• Naira Bulghadarian
Armenia - Police General Hunan Poghosian (C) speaks to protesters in Yerevan,
18 July 2016.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Friday defended his decision to appoint a
retired police general as governor of Armenia’s southeastern Syunik province
which has prompted criticism from human rights activists.
Lieutenant-General Hunan Poghosian served as first deputy chief of the Armenian
police during most of former President Serzh Sarkisian’s decade-long rule. He
resigned immediately after Pashinian came to power in May in a wave of
anti-Sarkisian protests.
Pashinian explained Poghosian’s appointment as governor when he visited the
provincial capital Kapan to campaign for a candidate of his Civil Contract
party running in an upcoming election of the town’s mayor.
Speaking at a campaign rally, Pashinian alleged attempts to “restore the old
oligarchic logic” in Syunik. The mountainous region bordering Iran should
therefore be governed by a tough security officer who can “bang his fist on the
table” and maintain law and order, protect civil liberties and guarantee free
enterprise, he said.
Human rights activists and even some Pashinian supporters criticized the
Armenian government after it formalized Poghosian’s appointment on Tuesday.They
said that the police general was closely linked to the former ruling regime
accused of corruption and human rights abuses.
Pashinian countered that he faced similar criticism when he appointed two other
career officers, Valeri Osipinian and Artur Vanetsian, as heads of the police
and the National Security Service (NSS) respectively in May. He argued that
both men are now popular with his supporters.
“When I walk in the streets with [Vanetsian] people hail and thank him as well
as Mr. Osipian,” he said. “Mr. Poghosian, I hope that when I come here next
time people will welcome you in the same way in Kapan and the other towns of
Syunik.”
Pashinian also noted that Poghosian was the one who had him rushed to hospital
when he was injured in an April 16 clash in downtown Yerevan between his
supporters and riot police.
Armenia -- Political activist Shant Harutiunian (L) clashes with another man
during an anti-government protest in downtown Yerevan during , 5Nov2013.
The choice of Poghosian proved controversial also because of past allegations
that he beat up a well-known maverick activist arrested while leading a violent
anti-government demonstration in 2013. The activist, Shant Harutiunian, was
subsequently sentenced to six years in prison.
Pashinian himself voiced the torture allegations in a 2013 interview with
RFE/RL’s Armenian service.
The premier argued on Friday that Harutiunian never gave formal incriminating
testimony against the police general. Nevertheless, he said, he has instructed
law-enforcement authorities to again investigate the alleged torture.
“I don’t know what happened in 2013,” said Pashinian. “But I also want to say
that as prime minister I asked Hunan Poghosian about that incident and got an
answer which satisfied me. Let the investigation ascertain the rest. In
Armenia, everyone is equal before the law.”
Meanwhile, Harutiunian’s teenage son Shahen told RFE/RL’s Armenian service that
Poghosian never personally assaulted his father in custody. He said the jailed
activist was physically abused by other security officials in the presence of
Poghosian and Vladimir Gasparian, the then national police chief.
Still, Shant Harutiunian’s lawyer, Inessa Petrosian, insisted that Poghosian
must be held accountable for the alleged ill-treatment. “Nikol Pashinian must
scrap the appointment of that governor,” she said.
Kocharian To Shun Snap Elections
• Emil Danielyan
Armenia -- Former President Robert Kocharian gives an interview to the Russian
NTV channel, Yerevan.
Two months after announcing his return to active politics, former President
Robert Kocharian has ruled out his participation in early general elections
that will likely be held in Armenia in December.
“First of all, the legitimacy of this process is very dubious for me, and
secondly, I just don’t have time [to prepare for the elections,]” Kocharian
told the Russian RIA Novosti news agency in an interview published on Thursday.
“Besides, I have had no party affiliation. This means that I have to create a
party from scratch, rather than restore something that has existed before,” he
said, adding that he needs time to cobble together a team of “talented, young
and energetic people.”
Kocharian also complained that most Armenians are now too euphoric about last
spring’s “velvet revolution” to make rational choices. “People are not ready to
discuss programs, to get to the bottom of economics or social policy,” he said.
“This is why the elections will have a superficial character. The dominant
theme will be defense of the revolution.”
Kocharian admitted Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and his allies will likely
score a landslide victory in the polls. “Opinion polls show that the country is
now heading for the formation of yet another political monopoly,” he said. “And
this is what generated and what was targeted by the ‘velvet revolution’ in
Armenia in the first place.”
Kocharian himself was accused by critics of systematically stifling dissent,
tolerating government corruption and rigging elections when he ran the country
from 1998-2008.He handed over power to his longtime ally, Serzh Sarkisian,
following a disputed presidential election that sparked anti-government
protests in Yerevan.
Kocharian ordered security forces to quell those protests on March 1-2, 2008.
Eight protesters and two police servicemen were killed as a result.
Law-enforcement authorities launched criminal proceedings against Kocharian
shortly after Pashinian swept to power in May. The ex-president was arrested in
late July on charges of illegally using the armed forces against protesters and
overthrowing the constitutional order.
Armenia’s Court of Appeals freed him from custody on August 13, saying that the
constitution guarantees his immunity from prosecution.
Kocharian announced his political comeback three days later. He accused
Pashinian’s government of endangering the country’s national security,
undermining its relations with Russia and lacking economic programs.
Pashinian, who played a key role in the 2008 protests, vehemently defended the
ongoing criminal investigation at a rally held on August 17. “All murderers
will go to prison,” he said.
Speaking to RIA Novosti, Kocharian again claimed that the new authorities are
waging a political “vendetta” against him. He predicted that he will face more
accusations soon.
“The most curious thing is that I wasn’t in government for ten years,” said the
64-year-old. “I don’t quite understand what they want from me. I clearly wasn’t
the target of that revolution. There was a totally different [Sarkisian-led]
government with which I practically did not communicate and which I criticized.
But all of a sudden I became an object of scrutiny.”
Press Review
“Zhamanak” quotes former President Robert Kocharian as telling the Russian RIA
Novosti news agency that he is planning to set up a political party to fill the
“opposition vacuum” in Armenia. The paper highly critical of Kocharian is sure
that the move will meet with strong public hostility.
“Zhoghovurd” hails the European Union’s decision to provide Armenia with
financial assistance meant for the proper conduct of the upcoming fresh
parliamentary elections. The paper says this development proved wrong those who
claimed that the West and the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission in
particular considers the elections too hasty and therefore not quite
legitimate. What is more, it says, the head of the EU Delegation in Yerevan,
Piotr Switalski, said on Thursday that the EU could provide additional economic
aid to Armenia next year.
Lragir.am reports that Kocharian has moved to take advantage of an ongoing
criminal investigation into leaked phone calls between the heads of Armenia’s
National Security Service (NSS) and Special Investigative Service (NSS) which
touched upon criminal proceedings launched against the ex-president. A lawyer
for Kocharian has demanded that his client be treated as a “victim” in that
probe. The online publication says that Kocharian is also planning to appeal to
the European Court of Human Rights.
(Lilit Harutiunian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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