Tuesday, June 6, 2017 Sarkisian Denies Rift With Armenian PM June 6, 2017 Armenia - President Serzh Sarkisian (L) and Prime Minister Karen Karapetian at an awards ceremony at the presidential palace in Yerevan, 28Jan2017. President Serzh Sarkisian dismissed on Tuesday media claims that Prime Minister Karen Karapetian is increasingly at odds with him and will step down soon. A number of Armenian media outlets and commentators have speculated in recent weeks that Sarkisian plans to become prime minister or replace Karapetian by someone else after serving out his final term in April 2018. Some of them have claimed that the premier will resign or be sacked before that time because of his worsening relationship with the president. The Yerevan daily "Zhoghovurd" reported on Tuesday that Karapetian has already twice tendered his resignation and that Sarkisian has refused to accept it. Citing unnamed sources, it said that Karapetian will not remain in office much longer. "The prime minister has no reason to resign," Sarkisian said in rare comments to Armenian reporters made later in the day. "Periodical reports about alleged differences or a confrontation are untrue." "We understand very well, both at the party and the government levels, who the authors of those fabrications are and what they want. But I think that that cannot have any impact on the situation," he added, according to the Armenpress news agency. Armenia - President Serzh Sarkisian and Prime Minister Karen Karapetian arrive at an election campaign rally in Yerevan, 31Mar2017. Sarkisian appointed Karapetian as prime minister in September last year with the stated aim of improving the socioeconomic situation in Armenia through more radical reforms. The 53-year-old premier, who is a former business executive, has since repeatedly pledged to create a level playing field for all businesses, combat corruption and tax evasion, and attract large-scale investments in the Armenian economy. Karapetian has also indicated his desire to retain his post after the end of Sarkisian's decade-long tenure, which will be followed by Armenia's transition to the parliamentary system of government. He told reporters on May 9 that he does not "see" preparations by Sarkisian to take his place at the helm of the government. The president himself has not publicly ruled out such a possibility. In a March 25 speech in Nagorno-Karabakh, he said vaguely that he would like to "play a role, in some capacity, in ensuring the security of our people" after April 2018. A spokesman for the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) declined to clarify last week whether Karapetian, who is also the HHK's first deputy chairman, will stay on as prime minister next year. Ohanian Vows Continued Fight For Regime Change June 6, 2017 . Sargis Harutyunyan Armenia - Former Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian attends an election campaign rally in Yerevan, 11Mar2017. Former Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian made clear on Tuesday that he will not quit politics despite his opposition alliance's poor showing in Armenia's recent parliamentary elections. "False media reports that I left Armenia, got a job abroad [in Russia] and so on are untrue and unacceptable," Ohanian told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) in an interview. "I have served my homeland for 38 years, I have spent my entire life here, and I will carry on with my service for the homeland." "I will present the methods, forms and principles [of doing that] to the public after deciding on them," he said. "Everyone is in politics today," Ohanian went on. "Today no capable and intelligent force thinking about Armenia's future, security and development can stay away from processes taking place in Armenia and around Armenia." A retired army general, Ohanian was sacked in October last year after working as defense minister in President Serzh Sarkisian's administration for more than eight years. He began criticizing the Armenian government shortly afterwards. In January, he teamed up with opposition parties led by former Foreign Ministers Vartan Oskanian and Raffi Hovannisian to run in the April 2 parliamentary elections. Armenia -- Former Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian (2nd R) speaks with local residents during an Ohanian-Raffi-Oskanian alliance campaign meeting in Gyumri, March 21, 2017 According to the Central of Election Commission (CEC), their ORO alliance polled only 2 percent of the vote, falling well short of a 7 percent threshold for having seats in Armenia's new parliament. The bloc rejected the official vote results as fraudulent but refrained from staging post-election street protests. Its leaders have kept a low profile since then. Ohanian insisted that the new National Assembly controlled by Sarkisian's Republican Party (HHK) "does not reflect the will of the people." Opposition groups not represented in the legislature must therefore strive to "make our people's voice heard" by the authorities, he said. "In that regard, I do not exclude developments outside the parliament that could lead to a force majeure situation," Ohanian said, alluding to the possibility of future anti-government protests. "I believe that the people must make their voice heard by the authorities," he added. More Armenian Judges Prosecuted For Corruption June 6, 2017 . Naira Bulghadarian Armenia -- The main entrance to the Office of the Prosecutor-General in Yerevan, 15Dec2009 Two more Armenian judges as well as one prosecutor have been accused of accepting thousands of dollars in bribes in return for making illegal decisions on two court cases in the country's Gegharkunik province. It also emerged on Tuesday that law-enforcement authorities have arrested six other local residents who allegedly arranged or paid the kickbacks to the chairman of the Gegharkunik court of general jurisdiction, Aghvan Petrosian, one of its judges, Vanik Vartanian, and a regional prosecutor, Sevak Shoyan. Petrosian and Shoyan have been taken into custody. Armenia's Justice Council was expected to give the green light to Vartanian's arrest later in the day. A statement by the Office of the Prosecutor-General claimed that Petrosian was paid $23,000 to hand a suspended prison sentence to a young man prosecuted for his role in a violent assault that occurred in Vartenis, a small regional town, in 2014. Armenia's Court of Appeals subsequently struck down the lenient sentence and sent it back to the Gegharkunik court. According to the statement, the Vartenis man was detained and went on trial even though Shoyan, the local prosecutor, received a $4,000 bribe from the suspect's parents. The statement added that the two judges were also paid around $2,500 in exchange for an "illegal verdict" in a property dispute involving other Gegharkunik residents. The ruling was handed down by Vartanian, it said. Two other Armenian judges are being prosecuted on similar charges. One of them, Ishkhan Barseghian, was allegedly caught red-handed in October while being paid $1,000 by a citizen. Armenia's National Security Service (NSS) circulated video purportedly showing him receiving the sum at an underground pass in Yerevan. Barseghian, who served in a district court in Yerevan for 20 years, pleaded not guilty when he went on trial in April. Another judge was charged with taking a $600 bribe last month. He worked in the lower court of the Ararat and Vayots Dzor provinces. Despite having undergone frequent structural changes over the past two decades, Armenia's judicial system is still regarded by many people as corrupt and highly dependent on the government. Armenia's former human rights ombudsman, Karen Andreasian, highlighted the problem in a 2013 report that accused judges of routinely taking bribes. The report based on confidential interviews with lawyers, judges and prosecutors singled out the Court of Cassation, the highest body of criminal justice in the country. Both the court and an Armenian government body monitoring the judiciary denied the allegations. Yervand Varosian, a well-known defense attorney, insisted on Tuesday that bribery among Armenian judges remains widespread. "Few people in the judicial system are not corrupt," Varosian told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). Only sweeping personnel changes in the judiciary can eradicate the illegal practice, he said. Opposition Bloc Offers Guarded Support For New Anti-Graft Body June 6, 2017 . Sisak Gabrielian Armenia - Lena Nazarian, a senior member of the opposition Yelk alliance, speaks to RFE/RL in Yerevan, 6Jun2017. A senior member of the opposition Yelk alliance on Tuesday welcomed the Armenian government's plans to set up a new body tasked with tackling corruption in the country. Under a bill approved by Prime Minister Karen Karapetian's cabinet on Thursday, the body is to prevent and detect corrupt practices among Armenian officials. It will be created on the basis of the existing State Commission for the Ethics of High-Ranking Officials. The commission receives income and asset declarations from Armenia's 600 most high-ranking state officials, including ministers and judges. The new body would not only scrutinize those financial disclosures but also investigate possible conflicts of interest or unethical behavior. It would be empowered to ask law-enforcement bodies to prosecute officials suspected by it of engaging in corrupt practices or even submitting false declarations. Under the bill, which the Armenian parliament will start debating on Wednesday, the anti-corruption body will consist of five members appointed by the National Assembly for six-year terms. Their candidacies would be submitted by a special council comprising not only government officials but also civil society representatives. Lena Nazarian, a parliament deputy from Yelk, said she on the whole supports the government initiative and is ready to vote for it despite having some misgivings. In particular, she said, state officials should be required to disclose not only their incomes but also expenditures. "I think that any bill that gives the opposition and the civil society an instrument to oversee submission of [income] declarations is positive," Nazarian told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). Some civic activists are far more skeptical about the new agency. Daniel Ioannisian of the Union of Informed Citizens predicted that it will not stop corrupt officials from falsely attributing their wealth to their friends or relatives. He also argued that the body will not be allowed to conduct criminal investigations. Former Justice Minister Arpine Hovannisian, who is the main author of the bill, insisted late last week that the anti-graft body will have sufficient powers to prevent many instances of corruption. The bill was also welcomed by Piotr Switalski, the head of the European Union Delegation in Yerevan. Switalski described it as a "step forward." Armenia ranked, together with Bolivia and Vietnam, 113th out of 176 countries evaluated in Transparency International's most recent Corruption Perceptions Index released in January. Press Review June 6, 2017 "Zhoghovurd" quotes Nagorno-Karabakh's prime minister, Arayik Harutiunian, as saying that international mediators' peace proposals praised by Armenia are unacceptable to the authorities in Stepanakert. The paper notes that the Karabakh Armenian leadership has long made clear its opposition to the so-called lands-for-status formula favored by the U.S., Russian and French co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group. "It will be interesting to see how this dilemma will be solved if Karabakh continues to reject the variant under discussion," it says. It also wonders why President Serzh Sarkisian has not convinced the Karabakh Armenians to drop their objections to what he has publicly described as a reasonable compromise. Konstantin Zatulin, a Russian pundit and former parliamentarian, tells "168 Zham" that Moscow does not want to see any decline in its role and presence in the South Caucasus. "Unfortunately, the existing facts are that Azerbaijan sharply increased arms purchases from Russia and it may well be that the military balance [in the Karabakh conflict] was somewhat disrupted because of that," he says. "[Recent] Russian arms supplies to Armenia indirectly testify to that fact. If we sold weapons only to Azerbaijan and did not give or sell weapons to Armenia, we would undermine the balance. The challenge is to maintain it." Russia is "using" that balance in its policy towards the Karabakh dispute, adds Zatulin. "Zhamanak" says that opposition forces that failed to win seats in Armenia's new parliament "seem to be recovering from their post-election shock." "They have started to speak up little by little," writes the paper. "Not all of them, of course. The former ORO alliance -- and one of its leaders, Raffi Hovannisian, in particular -- is more active right now, even if Seyran Ohanian (another ORO leader) also does not miss opportunities to address the public." "Aravot" complains that pro-government and opposition politicians go out of their way to stress what they think must be done in Armenia but will not specify how. "They must put an end to meaningless air fluctuations," the paper says. (Tigran Avetisian) Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL Copyright (c) 2017 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc. 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org