19:46,
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 25, ARMENPRESS. 15 protesters demanding PM Pashinyan’s resignation have been arrested, a press service official of the Police told ARMENPRESS.
‘’15 citizens have been arrested by 19:30’’, the official said.
Earlier today, a group of citizens had blocked some roads in Yerevan as part of the civil disobedience declared by the opposition, demanding PM Pashinyan to step down.
PM Pashinyan invites opposition forces to hold consultations on snap elections in 2021
21:27,
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 25, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan invites parliamentary and extra-parliamentary forces to hold consultations over the issue of holding snap elections in 2021, ARMENPRESS reports PM Pashinyan wrote on his Facebook page.
''Dear people, dear compatriots, it's now obvious that the process initiated by the opposition demanding the resignation of the PM did not enjoy people's support. The opposition had all the opportunities to generate the people's support – it possesses huge financial, media, organizational resources, it had wide opportunities to organize protests and rallies, but the movement was not only unable to secure popular support for its demands, but also the number of its supporters has been reduced to a minimum, the street process is nearly extinguished'', Pashinyan wrote.
According to the PM, no one can say that the authorities kept the power by using harsh force.
'' On the contrary, we are accused of being unnecessarily mild. But all these do not change the commitment of our political team and personally my commitment to stand in front of the people and be held accountable.
I do not cling to the seat of the Prime Minister, but I cannot have a careless attitude towards the power, the post of the Prime Minister handed over to me by the people. The fate of that position and the future political leadership of the country should be decided by the people, with free _expression_ of their will, and I, as the Prime Minister of Armenia, consider myself the guarantor of that free _expression_ of will’', Pashinyan wrote.
Pashinyan added that he is ready to step down based only on the decision of the people.
''I am also ready to continue leading Armenia in case the people reaffirms trust in this hard period. There is only one method of getting answers to these questions – holding snap parliamentary elections. Based on the mentioned, I invite parliamentary and interested extra-parliamentary forces to hold consultations to discuss the issue of holding snap parliamentary elections in 2021'', PM Pashinyan wrote.
Vazgen Manukyan is the candidate of the opposition movement for the Prime Minister's position. Vazgen Manukyan served as the first Prime Minister of Armenia from 1990 to 1991 under President Levon-Ter Petrosyan. He then served briefly as Defense Minister.
Manukyan was the President of the Public Council from 2009 to 2019.
Prime Minister's wife Anna Hakobyan has initiated a New Year event in Artsakh for children to be held on December 26-27 in Stepanakert. Hakobyan's initiative has triggered anger among some public figures in Artsakh.
Davit Ghahramanyan, photographer at Artsakh Information Center and actor at Stepanakert State Drama Theatre, has reacted to the initiative of the PM's wife on Facebook.
"The traitor has no right to step on our wounded Artsakh. We will give a New Year mood to our children without your dirty gifts," Ghahramanyan wrote, informing he had received a call from Yerevan and asked to take photos during Hakobyan's event, which he rejected.
The tents and the New year tree installed in the yard of Stepanakert Vallex Hotel are being dismantled, Deputy Mayor of Stepanakert Suren Tamrazyan informed on his Facebook page. The tents were set up to host Artsakh children for celebrating the New Year at the initiative of Armenian PM's wife Anna Hakobyan.
"The decorated tents and the New Year tree are being dismantled now, our people are against this initiative," the deputy mayor said.
To note, Anna Hakobyan's idea to organize New Year celebration in Artsakh has triggered anger among many people in Artsakh who called on Stepanakert residents to boycott the event.
The National Cinema Center of Armenia informs that by the decision of the experts of the prestigious Swiss Visions Sud Est, financial support was provided for seven international film projects, including an Armenian full-length documentary "Five Dreamers and a Horse" directed by Vahagn Khachatryan and Aren Malayan. The film was funded by the National Cinema Center of Armenia.
The Swiss fund visions Sud Est supports film productions from Asia, Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe and guarantees their distribution in Switzerland. It was initiated by the Foundation trigon-film Baden and the Fribourg Film Festival, with the collaboration of Nyon's Visions du Reel and the support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.
Since its creation in spring 2005, the fund has supported 159 projects from different parts of the globe. 126 of these films have already been completed and many have been invited to numerous festivals around the world,
"Five Dreamers and a Horse" – a coproduction of Armenia and Germany – is about the dreams of people. Five protagonists try to fulfill their dreams. An elevator conductor in a hospital dreams of traveling into space. An old unemployed Stalinist dreams of a trip to Paris before he dies. A young farmer dreams of the perfect woman, one that he can choose himself without the limitations of his village community. While these protagonists dream of escaping their present lives, two others, a young lesbian couple, play a very special role: they try to live out their dreams everyday. They hang out on the rooftops of Yerevan and get married with a doll as their pastor. They live free, without any borders, and define their own world.
The former Director of Armenia's National Security Service (NSS) has been appointed to a new post, which raises numerous questions," the Head of 'Henaket' analytical center Tigran Abrahamyan wrote on Facebook, commenting on Pashinyan's latest decision to appoint Argishti Karamayn as the Deputy Head of Armenia's Investigative Committee.
To remind, Karamyan was dismissed as Director of the NSS during the recent Karabakh war.
"Authorities should come up with explanations why they replaced the head of one of the key structures in the middle of the severe war and what is now the justification for his new appointment. You have turned the security of the country into a festival of frivolity and then justify with a serious face why this or that event ended in a tragedy for our state," Abrahamyan added.
Servicemen of the Russian Centre for Humanitarian Demining in Nagorno-Karabakh held a lesson Peacemaker for the students of secondary school No. 3 in Stepanakert, Artsakh during which they told the students about the peculiarities and specifics of the peacekeeping activities of Russian peacekeeping forces.
As the Russian Defense Ministry reported, the peacekeepers conducted classes on observing safety requirements when detecting explosive objects. The schoolchildren were told about the classification of explosive devices and actions when explosive objects are detected. Also, experts demonstrated the rules of first aid.
The servicemen of the mine action centre demonstrated samples of the equipment of the Russian servicemen – the OVR-2 combined-arms demining kit designed to protect the sapper from the damaging factors of the explosion, the IMP-S2 mine detectors and the INVU-3M Korshun portable explosive device finder, which detects explosive devices based on electronic components and schemes.
In total, more than 80 middle and high school students, teachers and parents of schoolchildren took part in the classes, the source said.
The Ombudsmen of the Republic of Artsakh and Armenia published on December 18 a joint ad hoc report on the attacks of journalists by Azerbaijan, covering the hostilities in Artsakh, the Human Rights Defender's Office reported.
In parallel with the targeting of the civilian population and infrastructures of Artsakh, journalists and their service vehicles were also targeted deliberately and indiscriminately as a result of which 7 journalists (5 foreigners and 2 Armenians) were injured and one person convoying the journalistic group was killed. According to the source, deliberate targeting is testified by the fact that journalists were wearing uniforms and distinctive signs that were also present on their cars.
Besides, some evidence suggests that Azerbaijani reconnaissance UAVs were flying at the scene before and during the strikes which means that the journalists were fully visible and distinct by the Azerbaijani armed forces.
The opposition Prosperous Armenia Party’s (PAP) parliamentary faction has initiated a working discussion at the Armenian parliament, during which the existing problems in the country’s border communities will be discussed.
According to PAP secretary Arman Abovyan, members of the government and MPs from the ruling My Step bloc have been invited to the discussion, but nobody has showed up.
“I hope that the ruling force will come and take part in this important discussion,” he said.
Abovyan also said that during the discussion a phone call will be held with heads of the border communities to have better understanding of the situation.
Incidentally, opposition Bright Armenia faction is also taking part in the discussion.
During the discussion of the situation in Armenia’s Syunik Province on Friday, opposition Bright Armenia faction head Edmon Marukyan said that the people of the region have deep concerns about their safety.
"What should we do from now on to offer our compatriots a safe environment in Syunik Province, so that the people of Syunik keep standing firm on their land? It is obvious that if the fears persist, we will witness emigration from Syunik," said Edmon Marukyan, addressing Mayor of Kapan Gevorg Parsyan.
In response to the deputy's question, the mayor stressed the importance of deploying border guards on both sides along the whole border in Syunik.
"And it is important that no regular troops be stationed behind the border guards. A demilitarized zone must be behind the border guards. This will help prevent clashes. In addition, you, as MPs, can introduce a legislative initiative related to arming our village men. In that case, our villagers, our citizens will gain additional confidence. For instance, at present there are complicated procedural issues related to purchasing weapons from a hunting shop. Even to cross the Kapan-Goris road, people must have confidence, and one of the measures to build it is to have weapons. Therefore, you can ease the procedure for acquiring weapons,” Parsyan said.
According to him, men from border villages in Syunik should be armed. In that case people will gain confidence and will know that they can defend themselves, he added.
"Also, you, as lawmakers, should urge the Ministry of Defense to pay close attention to Syunik. We need the attention of the Ministry of Defense, both in terms of firearms and the regular army," the mayor stated.