My Step bloc to have 88, PAP, Bright Armenia 26 and 18 mandates respectively

News.am, Armenia
Dec 16 2018
My Step bloc to have 88, PAP, Bright Armenia 26 and 18 mandates respectively My Step bloc to have 88, PAP, Bright Armenia 26 and 18 mandates respectively

16:44, 16.12.2018

Armenia’s new parliament will consist of 132 lawmakers.

Speaking at the CEC session today, chairman Tigran Mukuchyan said that My Step bloc will get 88, including 4 for ethnic minorities – Russians, Yezidis, Assyrians and Kurds.

According to Electoral Code, the number of mandates of other political forces must not be less than 1/3, in this case it is to be 44.

Thus, to 10 and 7 mandates of Prosperous Armenia and Bright Armenia parties additional 16 and 11 are added.

So, the PAP will have 26 and Bright Armenia 18 mandates.

Nephew of police colonel kidnapped in Yerevan

News.am, Armenia
Dec 16 2018
Nephew of police colonel kidnapped in Yerevan Nephew of police colonel kidnapped in Yerevan

14:56, 16.12.2018
                  

YEREVAN.- Armenian police officers detained four people supected of kidnapping 23-year-old Hovhannes Khmelyan on December 12.

According to Shamshyan.com, , 4 people in a Mercedes car, using violence, kidnapped Hovhannes Khmelyan on December 12 at around 23:30, brought him to a private house in the Kanaker district and beat him. During the beating, they threatened his life with a pistol and a knife. The police found out that the kidnappers were residents of Yerevan.

According to the source, Khmelyan is the nephew of the Acting Armavir police chief, Colonel Samvel Khmelyan, who is involved in another criminal case as a witness. 

Music: Zela Margossian Quintet review: Splashing Armenian heritage across a jazz canvas

The Sydney Morning Herald, Australia
Dec 16 2018


Zela Margossian Quintet review: Splashing Armenian heritage across a jazz canvas



What a bright new force is pianist Zela Margossian. Her debut album, Transition, announced her range and fascination as a composer, splashing her Armenian heritage across the broad canvas of jazz. But whereas the album (as good as it is) felt slightly stifled by a preoccupation with precision, here her music exploded into a more visceral dimension, the fizzing excitement sometimes almost lifting you from your chair.

Perhaps her precocious sophistication (after relatively recently transitioning from classical to improvised music) is partly due to her breadth of life experience. Ceasefire, for instance, celebrates the joy of being able to leave a bunker in Beirut (where she and her family lived) to go up on the street to play during the Lebanese Civil War. Her experiences have also rounded her as a person, so, despite the historical hatred, this Armenian chose to include a Kurdish Turk in her band – and percussionist Adem Yilmaz brings shamanic powers to bear, combining improbable facility with ingenious artistry.

Yet such exceptional musicianship is the norm, shared by Margossian, Stuart Vandegraaff (soprano saxophone, clarinet, ney), Elsen Price (bass) and Alexander Inman-Hislop (drums). The pyrotechnic thrills of odd-time-signature unisons at hurtling velocities were countered by the slow, moody groove of the Armenian traditional Erzerumi Shoror, and the lonely yearning of Vandegraaff's ney. Gradually the drama and dynamics of this intensified, until Inman-Hislop stormed the foreground with electrifying drumming.

Margossian's exotic Mystic Flute had Vandergraaff's clarinet lodged in its lower register, before an arco bass solo so forlorn as might make angels fall from heaven under the weight of their own tears. Yilmaz's solo cajon on Doume began as softly as if it were approaching from the other side of a hill, while The Child in Me had thrilling dialogues between drums and percussion; soprano and piano.

Yilmaz and Inman-Hislop gave each other space throughout, like two brothers who have learned to share, although Yilmaz could jettison his overused chimes. The traditional Sari Axchik spawned Margossian's finest work: a solo of muted passion.


Armenia plans to invest 2.5 billion in military development

JAM News
Dec 16 2018

Expert about withdrawal of Azerbaijani troops: Baku will expect adequate measures from Yerevan

News.am, Armenia
Dec 16 2018
Expert about withdrawal of Azerbaijani troops: Baku will expect adequate measures from Yerevan Expert about withdrawal of Azerbaijani troops: Baku will expect adequate measures from Yerevan

00:59, 16.12.2018
                  

YEREVAN. – The decision of Azerbaijani leadership to replace part of troops on the border with Armenia by border guards is a step forward for the development of relations with Armenia, Alexander Skakov, political scientist, Senior research fellow of the Center for Central Asian, Caucasian and Volga-Urals Studies at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Science, told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

According to the expert, this is related to the change of leadership in Armenia and attempts to develop certain ties.

“The change of the negotiator [change of leadership] in Armenia prompted Azerbaijan to make a certain step forward. This is the reason for such a dramatic change in approaches, given the fact that for many years Azerbaijan refused from making concessions, including in the matter of withdrawing snipers and heavy equipment from the borders with Armenia. Now Baku will wait for adequate measures from Yerevan,” Skakov said.

The expert stressed that it is necessary to take into account the fact that the decision was made regarding the areas bordering with Armenia.

“The aggravation on the border with Armenia may also involve Russia, given the agreement on security signed between Yerevan and Moscow,” he added.

Asked how this decision could be related to the last visit of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to Azerbaijan, the expert said: “Even if this decision was made as a result of consultations with the Russian Foreign Minister, it was obviously agreed with partner countries, primarily with the OSCE Minsk Group member countries.”

Րաֆֆի Հովհաննիսյանը մասնակցել է հունական կուսակցության համագումարին

Մամլո հաղորդագրություն
Րաֆֆի Հովհաննիսյանը մասնակցել է հունական կուսակցության համագումարին
Հանդիպումներ է ունեցել ազգային եւ եվրոպական լիդերների հետ
17 դեկտեմբերի 2018թ., Աթենք: Հայաստանի հանրապետության առաջին արտգործնախարար, «Ժառանգություն» կուսակցության հիմնադիր նախագահ Րաֆֆի Կ. Հովհաննիսյանը դեկտեմբերի 14-16-ը Հունաստանում էր՝ «Նոր ժողովրդավարություն» կուսակցության 12-րդ համագումարին մասնակցելու հրավերով:
Համագումարի շրջանակներում Հովհաննիսյանը հանդիպումներ է ունեցել հին ու նոր գործընկերների հետ, որոնց թվում էին «Նոր ժողովրդավարություն» կուսակցության նախագահ Կիրիակոս Միցոտակիսը, նախկին վարչապետներ Կոստաս Կարամանլիսը եւ Անտոնիո Սամարասը, Եվրամիության միգրացիայի ու ներքին գործերի հանձնակատար Դիմիտրիս Ավրամոպուլոսը, Սերբիայի Եվրոպական ինտեգրացիայի նախարար Յադրանկա Յոկսիմովիչը եւ Եվրոպական հանձնաժողովի նախագահի՝ ԵԺԿ թեկնածու Մանֆրեդ Վեբերը:
«Ժառանգություն» կուսակցության
լրատվական ծառայություն
«Ժառանգություն» կուսակցությունը հիմնադրվել է 2002թ. եւ գործում է Հայաստանի Հանրապետության ողջ տարածքում: Կենտրոնական գրասենյակի հասցեն է` Երեւան 0033, Երզնկյան 75: Լրացուցիչ տեղեկությունների համար կարող եք դիմել «Ժառանգություն» կուսակցության հեռախոսով` (37410) 27-16-00, հեռապատճենով` (37410) 52-48-18, էլ. փոստով` , կայք՝ www.heritage.am 

Scholars of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Discussed the Future of the Armenian-Chinese Relations with Armenian colleagues

Scholars of the Chinese Academy of Social
Sciences Discussed the Future of the Armenian-Chinese Relations with Armenian
colleagues

December
13-16, 2018, Yerevan- leading scholars from the Chinese Academy of Social
Sciences were invited by the “China-Eurasia” Council
for Political and Strategic Research
, foundation to visit Armenia. Within
the framework of the visit with their Armenian colleagues Dr. Xiao Bin, Dr. Bao
Yi and Dr. Wu Hongwei participated in an academic
seminar “China, Eurasia and Armenia: Views from Yerevan and Beijing.”
It is worth mentioning that Chinese initiative “One Belt, One Road” provides a
lot of opportunities to other states to get Chinese investments, but they are
not any big Chinese investments in Armenia
, even if we compare with other
South Caucasian countries. Professor
Wu Hongwei emphasized
that the Chinese-Georgian relations have developed dynamically, and the Chinese
side is making huge investments there. He expressed hopes that through the
information and contacts with Armenian specialists obtained during the visit,
it will be possible to draw new recommendations through which it will be
possible to develop economic relations with Armenia. In turn, Dr. Bao Yi
presented her research on China’s humanitarian cooperation with Central Asian
countries and noted that this successful experience can also be used in the
South Caucasus. Dr. Xiao Bing introduced his paper on promotion of the
cooperation of international capacity under One Belt, One Road initiative in
the era of technological transformation.

The head of the ARMACAD, Dr. Khachik Gevorgyan told  about the  prospects of the ARMACAD in the  development of Sino-Armenian academic
relations in the framework of the One Belt, One Road.
The organizer of this academic event, Dr. Mher Sahakyan, head of the
“China-Eurasia” Council for Political and Strategic Research, foundation, spoke
about the prospects for the development of the Armenian-Chinese relations in
the framework of the Chinese initiative.
As he noted, if a branch of one of the
leading Chinese banks opened or if Armenia and China establish a joint bank,
the result will be significant financial investments in Armenia. The financial
field of the country will be diversified, and if Dram-Renminbi conversion is implemented,
bilateral trade between Armenia and China will be realized in their own
currencies.
He recommended,
that
Armenia can try to stand a Regional member of
the Asian Infrastructure bank and after get sovereign backed or non-sovereign
backed loans for its state-owned noncommercial organizations, private
organizations, and international organizations which works in the territory of
Armenia, that they invest this money in Armenian
North-South Road Corridor, which will significantly enhance Armenia’s capabilities to be involved in
the Silk Road Economic Belt’s China-Central Asia
West Asia Economic Belt. Armenia and
China can also start cooperation in UN peacekeeping missions, as both states
are interested in it.

Dr.
Mher Sahakyan, also talked about the possibility of creating an
Armenian-Chinese joint military-industrial center in Armenia, which will produce
military robots, drones and so forth.

He also noted that Armenia can negotiate with
China for its participation in the “Digital Silk Road,” Armenia and China can
also cooperate on the research of the development of the 5G.

 After the
academic seminar Chinese and Armenian scholars agreed to strengthen cooperation
between the Armenian Foundation
“China-Eurasia”
Council for Political and Strategic Research
and the
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, to conduct joint research and make recommendations
for the development of Armenian-Chinese relations.

<!—US
ZH-CN
AR-SA

Չինաստանի հասարակական
գիտությունների ակադեմիայի գիտնականներ
ը հայ գործընկերների
հետ քննարկել են հայ-չինական հարաբերությունների ապագան

  2018թ դեկտեմբերի 13-ից 16-ը
««Չինաստան-Եվրասիա» քաղաքական և ռազմավարական խորհուրդ»» հիմնադրամի հատուկ
հրավերքով Երևան էին ժամանել Չինաստանի հասարակական գիտությունների ակադեմիայի առաջատար
գիտնականները։ Այցի շրջանակներում տեղի ունեցավ «Չինաստան, Եվրասիա և Հայաստան
հայացք Երևանից և Պեկինից» գիտական սեմինարը։ Չինաստանի հասարակական գիտությունների ակադեմիայի կողմից
ելույթ ունեցան
քաղաքագիտության դոկտորներ Սիաո Բինը, Պաո Ինը և Վու Խոնվեյը։ Նրանք նշեցին, որ
հայ-չինական հարաբերությունները լուրջ ուսումնասիրման կարիք ունեն։ Նշեցին, որ
«Մեկ գոտի, մեկ ճանապարհ» նախաձեռնությունն ահռելի հնարավորություններ է ընձեռում
տնտեսական հարաբերությունները զարգացնելու համար, բայց Հայաստանում չինական
ներդրումները դեռևս  շատ քիչ են, եթե
համեմատենք նույնիսկ Հարավային Կովկասի մյուս երկրների հետ ։ Պրոֆեսոր Վու Խոնվեյը
մասնավորապես շեշտեց, որ չին-վրացական հարաբերությունները զարգանում են դինամիկ
կերպով, չինական կողմն այնտեղ կատարում է ահռելի ներդրումներ։ Հույս հայտնեց, որ
այցելության ընթացքում ձեռք բերված տեղեկույթի, հայ մասնագետների հետ շփումների
շնորհիվ առաջարկներ կմշակվեն, որոնց շնորհիվ հնարավոր կլինի զարգացնել Հայաստանի
հետ տնտեսական հարաբերությունները։ Դոկտոր Պաո Ինը ներկայացրեց Չինաստանի
հումանիտար համագործակցությունը Կենտրոնական Ասիայի երկրների հետ, նշեց, որ այդ
հաջող փորձը կարելի է օգտագործել նաև Հարավային Կովկասում։ Դոկտոր Սիաո Բինը
ներկայացրեց Չինաստանի ներդրումային քաղաքականությունը և, թե ինչպե՞ս կարող են այլ
երկրները ստանալ չինական ներդրումներ։

ԱՐՄԱԿԱԴ-ի ղեկավար բգթ Խաչիկ Գևորգյանը ներկայացրեց ԱՐՄԱԿԱԴԸ՝
խոսելով այն հնարավորությունների, թվային գործիքակազմի մասին, որոնց միջոցով հայ և
չին գիտնականները կարող են զարգացնել համագործակցությունը գիտության ոլորտում։

Գիտական քննարկման նախաձեռնողը՝
««Չինաստան-Եվրասիա»
քաղաքական և ռազմավարական խորհուրդ»» հիմնադրամի ղեկավար ք
գթ Մհեր Սահակյանը, խոսեց Չինաստանի «Մեկ գոտի, մեկ
ճանապարհ» նախաձեռնության շրջանակներում հայ-չինական հարաբերությունների զարգացման
հեռանկարների մասին։ Նա նշեց, որ հնարավոր է չինական կողմի հետ հարաբերությունները
խորացնել տնտեսական, ֆինանսական ոլորտում, որի համար անհրաժեշտ է ապահովել երկու
երկրների տարադրամի կոնվերտացիան, կարելի է բանակցություններ սկսել Հայաստանում
հայ-չինական համատեղ բանկի կամ չինական որևէ առաջատար բանկի մասնաճյուղի ստեղծման
շուրջ։ Նշեց, որ Հայաստանը կկարողանա ընդգրկվել «Մեկ գոտի, մեկ ճանապարհ»
նախաձեռնության տրանսպորտային ոլորտում, եթե միայն վերջնական ավարտին հասցնի
Հյուսիս-հարավ ճանապարհային միջանցքը, որը կառուցելու համար կարելի է համագործակցել
նաև Ասիական ենթակառուցվածքների ներդրումների բանկի հետ։ Իհարկե, մինչ այդ
Հայաստանը պետք է նաև դառնա բանկի լիարժեք տարածաշրջանային անդամ։ Նա նաև նշեց,
որ, թե՛ Հայաստանը, թե՛ Չինաստանը մասնակցում են ՄԱԿ խաղաղապահ
առաքելություններում, ինչը նույնպես հնարավորություն է տալիս համագործակցել այդ
ոլորտում։ Մհեր Սահակյանը խոսեց նաև Հայաստանում չին-հայկական համատեղ
ռազմաարդյունաբերական կենտրոն ստեղծելու հնարավորության մասին, որտեղ հնարավոր
կլինի արտադրել ռոբոտացված, ինքնավար զինատեսակներ, անօդաչու թռչող սարքեր և այլն։
Նա նշեց նաև, որ նպատակահարմար է Չինաստանի կիբեռտարածքի վարչությանն առաջարկել,
որ Հայաստանը ևս միանա «Մետաքսի թվային ճանապարհ» և «Մետաքսի ճանապարհը
կիբեռտարածքում» նախաձեռնության իրագործմանը, ինչպես նաև համագործակցության եզրեր
գտնվեն Չինաստանի «Համացանց պլյուսի» և Հայաստանի Թվային փոխակերպման
ռազմավարության միջև։ Նպատակահարմար է, որ Հայաստանն ու Չինաստանը 5G բջջային ցանցի
զարգացման մասին համատեղ հռչակագիր ընդունեն, ըստ որի՝ երկու կողմերը կխթանեն այս
ոլորտում համատեղ հետազոտությունները։

Կողմերը պայմանավորվեցին սերտացնել համագործակցությունը
հայկական ««Չինաստան-Եվրասիա» քաղաքական և ռազմավարական խորհուրդ»» հիմնադրամի և
Չինաստանի հասարակական գիտությունների ակադեմիայի միջև, միասին կատարել
հետազոտություններ, ներկայացնել առաջարկություններ, որոնք կօգնեն զարգացնել
հայ-չինական հարաբերությունները։

 

Ученые Китайской академии общественных наук обсудили
будущее армянско-китайских отношений с армянскими коллегами

С 13-16 декабря 2018 года ведущие ученые из Академии
общественных наук Китая прибыли в Ереван по специальному приглашению Фонда
«Совет политических и стратегических исследования «Китая и Евразии». В рамках
визита был организован академический семинар “Китай, Евразия и Армения:
Взгляд из Еревана и Пекина “. Доктора политических наук Сяо Бин, Бао И и У Хуньнвей, из Китайской академии общественных наук представили
свои научные исследования. Они отметили, что армяно-китайские отношения
нуждаются в серьезном изучении. Было отмечено, что инициатива «Один пояс, один
путь» дает много возможностей для развития экономических отношений, но
китайские инвестиции в Армении все еще очень малы, даже если сравнивать с другими
странами Южного Кавказа.

Профессор У Хуньнвей подчеркнул, что китайско-грузинские
отношения динамично развиваются, и китайская сторона вкладывает туда огромные
инвестиции. Он выразил надежду, что благодаря информации, полученной в ходе
визита, будут развиваться контакты с армянскими специалистами, благодаря чему
можно будет развивать экономические отношения с Арменией. Д-р Бао И рассказала
о гуманитарном сотрудничестве Китая со странами Центральной Азии и отметил, что
этот успешный опыт можно использовать и на Южном Кавказе. Д-р Сяо Бин рассказал
об инвестиционной политике Китая и о том, как другие страны могут получить
китайские инвестиции.

Руководитель АРМАКАД-а, к.ф.н. Хачик
Геворгян представил
ARMACAD, рассказав о
возможностях, цифровых инструментах предоставленным организаций, с помощью
которых армянские и китайские ученые могут развивать сотрудничество в области
науки.

Инициатор научной
дискуссии, глава Фонда «Совета политических и
стратегических исследование «Китай-Евразия»
Мгер Саакян рассказал о перспективах
развития армяно-китайских отношений в рамках инициативы Китая «Один пояс, один
путь». Он отметил, что можно углубить отношения с китайской стороной в
экономических и финансовых сферах, для чего необходимо обеспечить конвертацию
валют двух стран, можно начать переговоры о создании в Армении совместного
армяно-китайского банка или любого филиала ведущего китайского банка. Он
отметил, что Армения сможет связать свои транспортные инфраструктуры с
транспортными коридорами «Одного пояса, одного пути» только в том случае, если
будет построен Армянский дорожный коридор Север-Юг, который можно использовать
для создания, которого можно еще и привлечь ресурсы Азиатского банка
инфраструктурных инвестиций. Для этого, безусловно, Армения также должна стать полноправным
региональным членом банка. Он также отметил, что Армения и Китай заинтересованы
в участии миротворческих миссиях ООН, что
также дает возможность сотрудничать в этой области. Мгер Саакян также рассказал
о возможности создания в Армении армяно-китайского совместного
военно-промышленного центра, в котором можно будет производить робототехнику,
автономное оружие, беспилотные летательные аппараты и так далее. Он также
отметил, что целесообразно
сделать предложение Управлению по вопросам киберпространства Китая об участии Армении в реализации
инициатив «Цифрового Шелкового пути» и «Шелкового пути в киберпространстве», а
также предложение о нахождении точек соприкосновения в деле сотрудничества
между концепцией «Интернет плюс» Китая и стратегией цифровой трансформации
Армении.

Целесообразно также, чтобы
Армения и Китай приняли совместную декларацию о развитии мобильной сети 5
G, в соответствии с которой обе стороны содействовали бы исследованиям
в этой области.

Стороны договорились укреплять сотрудничество между
армянским Фондом «Советом политических и стратегических исследование
«Китай-Евразия» и Китайской академией общественных наук, проводить совместные
исследования и вносить предложения по развитию армяно-китайских отношений.

 

 



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Sports: UEFA fines Armenia €18,000 over fans’ misconduct

PanArmenian, Armenia
Dec 15 2018

PanARMENIAN.NetUEFA has imposed an €18,000 fine on the Armenian Football Federation over fans' misconduct in a Nations League match against Gibraltar.

During the fixture in October, members of Red Eagles – a club supporting the national football team – and those from the Federation clashed because of a Gibraltar flag that had found its way to the home section of the stadium.

The police had to interfere in the brawl.

Besides the incident, bottles had been thrown toward the Gibraltar players from the stadium, UEFA revealed.

Armenia "turned down offer to buy Belarusian Polonez systems"

Defence Monitor Worldwide
Saturday
Armenia "turned down offer to buy Belarusian Polonez systems"
 
 
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has reveals that he offered Armenia to buy Belarusian Polonez missile systems – which Minsk also supplies to Baku – but Armenia turned down the proposal.
 
He added that Armenia rejected the deal citing the fact that Yerevan has acquired Russian Iskander missile systems, RIA Novosti reports.
 
Yes, for me, Azerbaijanis are no strangers, but you should not blame us for selling arms to Azerbaijan.
 
According to Lukashenko, when the Belarusian side was testing the systems, they invited Armenians, Azerbaijanis and Russians to follow the process, Lukashenko added.
 
During the test, he said, the Azerbaijani side expressed a wish to purchase the weapon.
 
And we need to return the loan the Chinese have given us for [the project]. I then …. say (to Azerbaijan – Ed.): `Well, I will sell you the complex`, and I tell the Armenians (because I knew that there are going to be problems): `I am ready to supply you with a similar complex.` The Armenians refused, citing the fact that they have Russian Iskander systems," Lukashenko said. 2018 Global Data Point.
 
 
 

Sydney: ‘Petrified, lack of direction’: Libs say Berejiklian is ‘just not selling it’

Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
December 14, 2018 Saturday
— 12:00am

Every bookcase tells a story. In Gladys Berejiklian’s corner suite, which overlooks yet another CBD construction site, the shelves display three of her most precious mementos, tucked away in corners.  Two are deeply personal: a child’s drawing of her in a superhero cape, done by a friend’s son when she first went into politics; and a Madam President Barbie doll, still in its box, a gift from a beloved friend who lost a battle with cancer. The third, sitting on the shelf below, is the one with the sting. It reminds her of how thin the line can be between defeat and victory. Set out on flimsy paper and framed, it's the official record from the electoral office of the votes cast in her electorate of Willoughby the first time she stood for office, in 2003.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian faces a tough task to win the upcoming election. Credit:AAP

Her margin was just 144 votes – a margin she has since increased significantly. It's a daily reminder, she says, of “a lesson that I learnt 16 years ago: never take anyone for granted”.

Measured on diligence and hard work alone, that lesson seems as much at the forefront of her mind as ever. She rarely stops, to the point that some of her friends suggest she try and build in more downtime. But along with the busyness, the relentless drive to get things done, the frenetic schedule and the seemingly effortless mastery of facts and figures, comes a reputation for micro-management. There is also criticism that her office operates in a “bubble”, and that she takes advice from too narrow a circle.

More significantly, there is growing concern, even among some of her strong supporters, that the government lacks an overarching narrative beyond offering "more of the same" as it heads towards the state election in just under 100 days’ time.

For Berejiklian, it will be her first campaign as party leader and toughest test yet. “We are trying to counter history,” she concedes. “The last time you had a Coalition government in the state that [successfully] went for a third term was in 1971, nearly 50 years ago.” Yet she claims, Pollyanna-like, that she is looking forward to the contest. “Really, state elections are positive in that they give you a voice, an opportunity to express where you have come from, what you are doing now and what you are going to do into the future.”

That outward confidence is not, it seems, widely shared. “Petrified” is how one former senior Liberal official describes prevailing sentiment inside the party.

Another talks of the Wagga Wagga byelection, held in September, as a “shock out of the blue for everybody. Overnight, people went from being convinced she would win to thinking she might lose. What it showed was the fragility of their hold on power.”

That seemingly safe Riverina seat, Liberal-held since the 1950s, went to an independent, Joe McGirr, on a massive 22 per cent swing away from the government. It was a sharp reminder that only six seats stand between the Coalition and minority government, with marginal seats such as Coogee, East Hills, Lismore and Upper Hunter at risk. A strong push by One Nation, under the Mark Latham banner, also increases the threat of a fragmenting conservative vote in the state’s regions.

Berejiklian does have the ingredients of a good message to craft for voters, her closest supporters insist. The state’s budget is in enviable good health, there is $80 billion of infrastructure being built, and NSW has the lowest jobless rate at 4.4 per cent.

But there is a counter narrative building as well: congestion, overdevelopment and the rising cost of living, a perceived tone-deafness on the part of a government too driven by a quest for deals with the private sector, and a lack of coherence around strategy and vision.

The toxic state of the federal party is not helping and Labor’s exploitation of the state government’s commitment to spending $1.5 billion on demolishing and rebuilding Sydney Football Stadium at Moore Park and refurbishing Sydney Olympic Park at Homebush feeds the narrative that Macquarie Street is out of touch with the everyday concerns of ordinary people. The state’s economic performance – top of the pack a year ago – has slowed as the downturn in the Sydney property market starts to bite.

New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian has saids she accepts the "strong message" sent in the Wagga Wagga by-election loss.

“I get the sense around town that there is frustration with the lack of direction,” says one well-connected former insider. “There is a vision to sell, they are just not selling it. This is frustrating to people currently in government as well as outside it. The electorate is tired, they don’t particularly want to hear from politicians. I don't think you can sit there any more and say, ‘this is what I have done for you in the last four years, we have achieved all this stuff'.”

Another says the government has become victim of its own infrastructure boom. “Government doing stuff has become the new normal for NSW,” the former senior party figure says. “They have poured billions into infrastructure, but people are saying, ‘don't tell us what you have done, tell us what you’re going to do’. That is where she needs to step up: what’s next.”

An MP concurs. “I think we are lacking direction. Mike [Baird] had poles and wires and he made that a referendum issue, and while we don’t necessarily need to take an issue like that to the election, I think lots of members are asking for something tangible.”

Berejiklian rejects these criticisms. Yes, she says, incumbency now is “far more challenging, absolutely … I accept, and always have, that people bank what you have done for them. But the most frequent positive feedback our government gets is that we get things done … By and large people want us to keep going”.

She mentions talking with a triumphant Daniel Andrews at the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting this week. “I said ‘why did you get re-elected?’ and he said ‘because I’m getting things done’."

She cites that conversation in support of her own strategy. “Our infrastructure spend is twice theirs … which other government in the world is building three light rail lines, four metro lines and road projects?” She moves on to spruik her and deputy premier John Barilaro’s plans for growth and greater connectivity in the regions, and lauds the new Western Sydney “aerotropolis” taking shape near Badgery’s Creek.

“That's a 20-year vision for greater Sydney which would see a new city, the ‘parklands city’ as we currently call it … [as] the centre for defence, robotics, trades, agribusiness … So when you are standing in Parramatta you won’t be looking east for the best jobs, you will be looking west for the best jobs.”

She insists the government has a good message to sell on caring for the vulnerable: combating domestic violence, investing in social and affordable housing, and mandating jobs for Aboriginal youth on infrastructure projects in the region. “I really think our success story is in that story about social progress.”

Her latest foray into population policy, suggesting the state should halve its migration intake, is also an “attempt to change gears” a senior Liberal admits. “If there is one person who can say we need less immigration and not look a racist, it has to be Gladys.”

But again, seasoned hands worry about the scatter-gun approach to messaging . “They are focusing on too much,” says one veteran. “Instead of your 20-point plan, just pick five, or six. They do need a game-changer on transport.”

Privately, Berejiklian’s office also comes in for some criticism, as does the Liberal party state machine led by director Chris Stone. Although her senior staff are well respected and loyal, they are seen as outmatched by the team that Labor has put in place around new leader Michael Daley, which now includes Bob Carr’s former chief of staff Kris Neill, and Eamonn Fitzpatrick, a veteran of many ALP campaigns at both state and federal level.

“Pound for pound, compared with Daley’s, you tend to think that Gladys’ team is not the A team; it's a nice team, but a B team,” says a party warrior. “There is a general belief that she needs to sharpen the axe, get a political hardhead in there, and one or two in the state party office as well.”

A senior government source describes her private office as “stacked full of staffers from the north shore”, while another MP likens it to Scott Morrison’s “Canberra bubble”. “I look at that office and wonder how many people who work there have had the same life experiences of the majority of the state.”

Her circle of advisers includes former leaders Barry O’Farrell and John Brogden, as well as, occasionally, her immediate predecessor Mike Baird. Among ministers, she is particularly reliant on her (moderate) factional praetorian guard, Matt Kean and Don Harwin and is close to Victor Dominello. The Minister for WestConnex and Sport, Stuart Ayres, is hugely influential with Berejiklian – too much so, many say.


Barilaro is also someone to whom she listens, according to senior Nationals. A senior Liberal MP says Berejiklian and Barilaro are a “good combination” because the Nationals leader has “the fire in the belly to push her … in some ways he supplements the gaps in her leadership and she needs that”.

A number of Liberals would like to see her take more risks, not just with the grand government narrative but with how she markets herself. They want to see her make more of the tale of the child of Armenian migrants, a welder and a nurse, whose eldest daughter began school with almost no English but ending up as dux before reaching the heights of state politics.

“She really struggles to talk about herself,” says one friend. “I think part of it might be a fear that if one part of her private life is open, the whole thing might be open.” Another MP says he has known her for 20 years but “I don’t know the first thing about her personal life”.

A party veteran says: “Voters tend to vote for those who they trust, and in order to trust you have to know someone. The danger is that even though Gladys has been in place for a period of time, people don’t feel as though they know her or what she stands for. People want ‘authentic’ parliamentarians and authentic means sharing a bit more about themselves.”

But long-time friend and current Australian ambassador to Washington Joe Hockey says that for Berejiklian to make more of a show-pony of herself cuts against the grain of how she was raised. Hockey, a fellow Liberal moderate whose own father is Armenian, describes the Armenian-Australian community as “very socially conservative, and extremely family focused. Much of community life centres around the Armenian church and Armenian schools”. (Berejiklian attended Armenian school on Saturdays.)

“She was the highest achiever supported by an incredible family, with traditional expectations for their three daughters,” Hockey adds. “Gladys has fought all her life against stereotypes but she would never admit that because she would see it as a criticism of her traditional migrant upbringing … [yet] I can’t emphasise enough how many glass ceilings she has broken.”

She and Hockey met when both were working in then treasurer Peter Collins’ office 25 years ago. She has stayed with him in Washington – “hanging out with my kids, to get away from things.”

He says her upbringing has left her with a “deep humility. It doesn’t surprise me that she would say ‘I don't want to talk about myself’ because that is Gladys.”

But, he concedes, “it's not a particularly successful formula in the modern age for a politician to be reluctant to talk about themselves and focus more on what they are doing”.

Berejiklian insists she does drop anecdotes about her life into events such as school speeches. In a factional sense she is very much an insider, having been part of the machinations of the moderate group inside the Liberal party since university days. But she insists she “feels like an outsider … Look at my gender, and the composition of the parliament, look at my background, look at my education … How many politicians have a surname as long as mine, who are women in leadership positions, who have a migrant background and were public school-educated? I’m an outsider in politics full stop.”

That narrative could play well in the electorate if she amped it up, her supporters believe. They also wish she would fly the flag more as a progressive Liberal, on issues like the environment and women.

Many were horrified at her failure to dress down Alan Jones over his on-air bullying of Opera House chief Louise Herron when the controversy about advertising the Everest horse race on the building’s sails was at its height.

“She should have told Jones ‘Relax, we will get to an outcome, but can you please not talk to a senior public servant like that',” says a senior Liberal. It was, he says, a lost opportunity to tap into a wave of outrage from female voters.


Berejiklian seems uncomfortable when challenged on why she does not openly advocate more in this area. It is “non-core” business. She seems to take the view that if she makes a signature virtue of her gender, that will somehow undercut the job of normalising women in senior roles.

“The best thing I can do for women is do a good job, so that people regard me as a good premier,” she says. “But I feel that if I push the woman thing, it’s not going to help women. Right? It might help me personally, but there are a number of issues which I have spoken about which haven’t been picked up, which I will continue to speak about, which support women, women and choices, especially women who don’t fit into the traditional mould …  [there are] many ways behind the scenes in which I’m making a difference for women. But to do more you don’t always crow about it because it sets you back.”

She adds, “there is no such thing as a perfect leader. Of course there are things I’m not [so] good at or don’t have, but no leader does. I don’t know anybody that has got the full package. But I’m quite happy and comfortable with the things people attribute to me…. hard-working, competent, economically savvy, personable, a different background person”.

Berejiklian is tough, but at times there is brittleness as well. What she does possess, according to Hockey, is an integrity he’s rarely seen matched in public life.

“I have never seen someone more determined to do what is right rather than what is in her own interests,” Hockey tells the Herald. “It's really hard in modern politics to be an advocate for positive policy, it's easier to bring things down. But that’s not in her play book. She is an advocate and a do-er. Whether that's [the winning formula] will be determined in March.”