Month: February 2021

The agenda that the parliamentary faction of the ruling My Step bloc is presenting isn’t in line with the current situation and isn’t to the country’s benefit. This is what secretary of the parliamentary faction of the opposition Prosperous Armenia Party Arman Abovyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am, commenting on the amendments to the Judicial Code that were presented by the Government of Armenia and were adopted by the parliament yesterday.

According to him, the overall situation is such that the authorities are unable to analyze the situation correctly, draw conclusions or take normal steps. Abovyan also stated that Prosperous Armenia Party has yet to consider whether it will apply to the Constitutional Court to clarify the constitutionality of the adopted amendments.

Based on the amendments, there will be new judges who will deal with issues related to pre-trial measures. The opposition emphasizes that, with this, the authorities intend to launch massive repressions.

To apply to the Constitutional Court, there has to be one-fifth of the votes of deputies (27 votes), and the parliamentary opposition parties both have a total of 41 votes.

YEREVAN. –The government of the Republic of Armenia has successfully issued eurobonds; with this issuing, we have issued a bond worth $750 million. And it is very important to record that the issuing took place with the most favorable terms, the lowest interest rate in the history of our country. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated this at Thursday's Cabinet meeting of the government.

"This is a very important signal for our economy. First, a guarantee of macroeconomic stability has been formed with this. Second, in fact, we can say that this is the first serious signal of overcoming the post-war economic shock, which also shows that international investors are confident in the economic future of the Republic of Armenia and the policy run by the government. (…). We can record that we have started the economic year with a very strong positive signal. We hope that this positive signal will cause a chain reaction," Pashinyan also said.

While discussing the issue of the new state criterion in Armenia during today’s government session, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan asked to touch upon the uproar that was caused in regard to the subjects “Armenian Church”, “Armenian History” and “Armenian Literature” as well.

Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Vahram Dumanyan assured the Prime Minister that there is no more uproar at this moment.

The minister added that the ministry is currently holding discussions on teaching of the subject “History of the Armenian Church” in schools and universities. “As far as the subjects “Armenian History” and “Armenian Literature” are concerned, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport hosted a meeting with its colleagues from the National Academy of Sciences, discussed and understood the reasons for the uproar, and there is no reason for any more uproar,” he said.

Whether we like it or not, the mining industry plays a very important role in the development of Armenia's economy, including in the security context. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated this at Thursday's Cabinet meeting of the government of Armenia, referring to the Economic Response Program and the preliminary action plan, which was approved at this meeting.

"It is important to note that here, too, we must make decisions, make certain investment projects more important and acceptable for Armenia and Armenia’s society. Here, too, we must try to make such decisions, including within the framework of the well-known investment project of Amulsar [gold mine], taking into account the balanced interests of Armenia, we must try to find solutions," Pashinyan added.

The reports about top officials of Armenia being spies need to be investigated. This is what lawyer, constitutional expert Gohar Meloyan told reporters today.

Recently, ex-Ambassador of Armenia to the Vatican Mikayel Minasyan declared that Speaker of the National Assembly Ararat Mirzoyan is an agent for the special services of Turkey and Armenia.

“The actions of certain officials serve as a ground to think that they are fulfilling the will of the institutions of foreign countries. I hope criminal cases are launched and investigations are conducted with regard to each official’s case,” Meloyan said.

According to her, the incumbent authorities initially chose a wrong course by trying to set moods in society for living in peace with the enemy, while the ‘neighbors’ are instilling hatred towards the Armenians starting from kindergarten. “The goal of the two neighboring countries it to physically annihilate Armenians, and the calls for peace seem strange, to say the least. We Armenians are on the brink of a genocide,” the lawyer emphasized and stressed the fact that there were more victims during the recent 44-day war in Artsakh than during the first war in Artsakh.

Head of Communication and Prevention Programs of the Delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Armenia Zara Amatuni told RFE/RL that ICRC representatives have visited four Armenian prisoners of war in Azerbaijan, including civilians.

“On February 1 and 2, representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross visited four Armenian civilians and servicemen who are being kept in Azerbaijan as a result of the recent escalation in the country. During the visits, we provided them with the opportunity to contact their relatives,” Amatuni said, adding that the representatives were told about the conditions for keeping the prisoners of war and learned about their health conditions.

Azerbaijan has officially confirmed the existence of only 57 Armenian prisoners of war, but based on the Armenian side’s data, there are over 200 Armenian prisoners of war in Azerbaijan. Overall, Azerbaijan has returned 59 captives to Armenia, including civilians, while Armenia has returned 15 captives, including not only prisoners of war, but also Azerbaijanis Shahbaz Guliyev and Dilham Askerov, who were convicted of murder of a child and other crimes in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh).

President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian has already received the bill which envisages amendments to the Judicial Code and which was adopted by the National Assembly yesterday, the Staff of the President of Armenia reported.

According to the Constitution of Armenia, the President shall sign and promulgate the law adopted by the National Assembly within a 21-day period or shall, within the same period, apply to the Constitutional Court to determine the compliance of the law with the Constitution.

If the Constitutional Court decides that the law complies with the Constitution, the President shall sign and promulgate the law within a five-day period. If the President fails to fulfill the set requirements, the Speaker of the National Assembly shall sign and promulgate the law within a five-day period.

According to the draft amendments, certain judges of the court of general jurisdiction of Yerevan with criminal specialization will examine cases of judicial oversight over pre-trial proceedings and the motions to allow operational intelligence measures implemented in the territory of the Republic of Armenia.

In an interview with Armenian News-NEWS.am, Russian political scientist Stanislav Tarasov said the processes unfolding in Russia in regard to the ruckus about Alexei Navalny and what happened under the leadership of Nikol Pashinyan in 2018 in Armenia are incomparable.

“The speeches in Armenia led to real shift of power. At the time, the whole nation united around Pashinyan. In Russia we’re dealing with marginal people whom nobody has supported. Liberal mass media outlets caused uproar through the provision of information, but they don’t have a serious influence,” the analyst added.

According to him, this is an ordinary attempt to meet certain objectives at the local level and tactical objectives.

“There is no issue related to shift of power or destabilization of the situation. Navalny is not prospective. The technologies that the West used in Armenia in 2018 didn’t work in Russia. It turned out that Russia was ready for this,” he concluded.