Monday, April 2, 2018
Armenian Opposition Group Starts Walking Tour In Regime Change Bid
• Sisak Gabrielian
• Satenik Kaghzvantsian
Armenia - Opposition leader Nikol Pashinian takes a selfie with supporters
during a political march in Shirak province, 31 March 2018.
Opposition leader Nikol Pashinian and his associates began touring Armenia’s
northern and central regions on foot at the weekend in preparation for street
demonstrations in Yerevan aimed at preventing President Serzh Sarkisian from
extending his rule.
A backpack-wearing Pashinian began the two-week walking tour from the central
square of Gyumri. He was joined by a group of activists and supporters of his
Civil Contract party outside the country’s second largest city.
They planned to walk around 200 kilometers through several other Armenian towns
and arrive in Yerevan on April 13 in time for their first major anti-government
protest. Pashinian said they will hold rallies in the city’s Liberty Square for
at least four consecutive days.
The Armenian parliament dominated by Sarkisian’s supporter is scheduled to
elect on April 17 a new prime minister, who will be the country’s most powerful
official because of its ongoing transition to a parliamentary system of
government. The outgoing president, whose second term expires on April 9, is
widely expected to take up the post.
Sarkisian promised in 2014 that he will not seek to become prime minister if
Armenia becomes a parliamentary republic as a result of his controversial
constitutional changes. His political opponents now accuse him of reneging on
that pledge. Sarkisian’s allies claim, however, that he never explicitly
pledged to quit power and is better equipped to govern Armenia than anyone else.
Pashinian says that Sarkisian’s continued rule would also lead to the
“Azerbaijanization” of Armenian politics, a reference to the authoritarian rule
of Azerbaijan’s current and former longtime presidents.
“Our action plan includes blocking roads, blockading buildings and generating
the kind of civic activity that would enable us to go to the National Assembly
and halt the work of the deceitful state and deceitful regime created by Serzh
Sarkisian,” he told reporters in Gyumri.
“We want to enable Armenia’s citizens to speak up against Serzh Sarkisian’s and
the [ruling] Republican Party’s perfidy,” he said.
Armenia - Opposition leader Nikol Pashinian starting a long political march in
Gyumri, 31 March 2018.
The outspoken oppositionist is heavily using his Facebook page to provide live
video and photo updates of their long march. In particular, he and his mostly
young loyalists have been shown pitching tents to spend a night by a roadside
in the northern Shirak province.
Pashinian , who is highly critical of the Armenia’s president’s decade-long
tenure, again stressed on Saturday that his team favors solely peaceful methods
of political struggle and will not resort to violence even if the authorities
use force against it.
The 42-year-old former journalist also acknowledged that the success of his
anti-Sarkisian campaign named “My Step” depends on the scale of attendance at
its upcoming rallies in Yerevan.
Two other opposition parties allied to Pashinian’s Civil Contract, Bright
Armenia and Republic, are very skeptical about his ability to attract large
crowds. They have cited this as the main reason for their refusal to join his
campaign.
The three parties make up the Yelk alliance which finished third in last year’s
parliamentary elections. The bloc holds 9 seats in the 105-member parliament.
Tsarukian Bloc Won’t Take On New PM
• Tatevik Lazarian
Armenia - Naira Zohrabian of the Tsarukian Bloc speaks during a parliament
session in Yerevan, 13Dec2017.
A senior aide to Gagik Tsarukian indicated on Monday that his political
alliance will not attempt to scuttle President Serzh Sarkisian’s apparent plans
to become prime minister after serving out his second term next week.
Accordingly, Naira Zohrabian made clear that the Tsarukian Bloc will not join
another opposition force, Nikol Pashinian’s Civil Contract party, in trying to
prevent Sarkisian from extending his rule. She said the Armenian opposition
missed its “legitimate chance” to unseat the country’s leadership in
parliamentary elections held one year ago.
“Unfortunately, a large part of the public voted, under the influence of one or
another factor, for a political force which now has a legitimate right to
nominate its prime minister,” Zohrabian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service
(Azatutyun.am). She claimed that the ruling Republican Party (HHK) won the
April 2017 vote because of massive vote buying made possible by a popular
belief that “things cannot be changed in our country.”
The Armenian parliament is expected to install the next, far more powerful
prime minister on April 17, eight days after the end of Sarkisian’s presidency.
Under Armenian constitution, the authorities will have to hold fresh elections
if the parliament twice fails to choose a premier. Pashinian and his allies
claim that large opposition crowds can disrupt such a vote in the National
Assembly and thus force snap polls.
Zohrabian dismissed that argument. “Are you sure that in case of fresh
elections people will not accept money and will not vote for the Republican
Party again?” she said. “I’m afraid I don’t have such confidence.”
Eduard Sharmazanov, the HHK spokesman, reiterated, meanwhile, that the
authorities are not worried about the anti-Sarkisian protests planned by
Pashinian’s party. “As far as political expediency is concerned, they will
produce zero results,” he said, adding that the HHK has a “constitutional
right” to pick the next prime minister.
The Tsarukian Bloc, which holds 31 seats in the 105-member parliament, claims
to be in opposition to the Armenian government. However, Tsarukian and his
associates refrain from attacking Sarkisian or voting against key government
bills. Some Tsarukian Bloc lawmakers have openly stated in recent weeks that
they support Sarkisian’s appointment as prime minister.
Sarkisian Privatizes Official Residence
• Nane Sahakian
Armenia -- The official presidential residence in Yerevan.
In a move condemned by the opposition, the Armenian government has granted the
outgoing President Serzh Sarkisian ownership of a mansion in Yerevan where he
and his predecessors have lived while in office.
The government formally approved the free privatization of the property and
specified its address on Thursday. A senior official from the presidential
staff, Varuzh Grigorian, confirmed on Monday that it is the very house where
Sarkisian has lived with his family since becoming president ten years ago.
The house is part of a secluded government compound just outside the city
center which has also been home to other high-ranking state officials. The two
former Armenian presidents, Levon Ter-Petrosian and Robert Kocharian, also
lived there with their family members when they governed the country. Both men
were provided with free housing in other, more remote parts of Yerevan after
leaving office.
Sarkisian’s decision not to leave the heavily guarded mansion after completing
his second term on April 9 is widely seen as a further indication that he will
become prime minister and thus stay in power. The Armenian parliament dominated
by his loyalists is scheduled to appoint the next premier on April 17.
Opposition leaders said the development also means that he is keen to extend
his rule indefinitely.
“It wasn’t just a decision to give Serzh Sarkisian a house. It was also a
decision about the future of that government compound,” said Levon Zurabian,
deputy chairman of the Armenian National Congress (HAK), an opposition party
headed by Ter-Petrosian.
“He has already perpetuated his power in his mind and doesn’t want to leave
that property,” Zurabian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). He
suggested that Sarkisian may also be seeking “additional security guarantees”
that might be necessary after his eventual retirement.
Nikol Pashinian, another opposition leader, condemned the privatization in even
stronger terms. “It’s a crime tantamount to a coup d’etat,” he told members of
his Civil Contract party. “All members of the government are accomplices to
that crime.”
Pashinian, who holds a seat in the Armenian parliament, said he will demand an
“official explanation” from the government. The latter has so far given no
reason for the controversial decision.
Civil Contract and other opposition groups are planning to hold rallies in
Yerevan later this month to try to force Sarkisian to quit power.
Press Review
(Saturday, March 31)
“Zhoghovurd” writes on the second anniversary of the April 2016 war in
Nagorno-Karabakh, saying that it exposed “problems of the Armenian armed
forces.” “Two years on, only the frontline positions have been gotten into
shape,” it says. “They have been equipped with new equipment thanks to huge
donations by Armenian citizens and Diaspora Armenians. Armenia has acquired new
weapons with a loan provided by Russia. By contrast, officials who were
responsible for this situation have not been prosecuted. They have only been
sacked. The April war also offered political lessons, proving the need for a
quick political solution to the Karabakh conflict.”
“Zhamanak” discusses possible implications for Armenia of the rising tensions
between Russia and the West. The paper says that they could complicate the
Armenian policy of complementing the alliance with Russia with closer ties with
the United States and the European Union. It says that the two sides or just
one of them could force Yerevan to openly side with it in the standoff. “It’s
hard to tell whether these risks are real or exaggerated,” it says. “The
situation changes quite rapidly.” In any case, it says, “Armenia must be
prepared for the worst-case scenario.”
Interviewed by “168 Zham,” Vladimir Yevseyev, a Russian military analyst,
defends Moscow’s decision to deploy military police units at its military base
in Armenia. He says this will strengthen discipline among Russian soldiers
serving in Armenia and reduce the risk of various offenses committed by them.
“The [2015] murder of an Armenian family in Gyumri was a serious blow to both
Russia and Armenia,” says Yevseyev. “There have since been many discussions on
what measures need to be taken.”
“Haykakan Zhamanak” reveals that a recent visit to Washington by an Armenian
parliamentary delegation cost Armenian taxpayers at least $12,600. The paper
seems to consider this an unnecessary waste of public funds.
(Tigran Avetisian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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