Month: May 2021

The opposition Homeland Party announced the launch of a process to form a political alliance with the former ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) to jointly run in the snap parliamentary elections supposed to be held on June 20.

At a news conference on Saturday, Homeland Party spokesman Sos Hakobyan read out a statement made by the party’s council.

"Taking into account the geopolitical and internal political challenges facing the Republic of Armenia;

“Based on the imperative to oust the destructive and defeatist regime that considers itself in power in Armenia today;

“Guided by the determination to organize the struggle for the homeland in a cooperative atmosphere and the readiness to cooperate with the national forces;

“Noting that the Homeland Party has paved the way for other ideological and national forces through its relentless and radical struggle;

“And finally, based on the conviction that this struggle is for a secure and dignified future for Armenia and Artsakh, the council of the Homeland Party decided to run in the possible snap parliamentary elections and to start a process of forming an alliance with the Republican Party of Armenia.

“Realizing that in this crisis broad public consolidation against the destructive and defeatist regime is a vital necessity, we are convinced that through the formation of this bloc we will realize the will and dream of our people and nation,” the statement read. 

Political analyst Argishti Kiviryan touched upon interim Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's latest visit to Syunik Province where he faced angry protests.

"It was extremely important for Nikol to go to the area where he was not accepted. He wanted to give himself hope that he could enter any territory of Armenia,” Kiviryan told a news conference on Saturday.

According to him, Pashinyan's latest visit had worse consequences than the previous one, when his entry into the border region had been blocked.

He stated Pashinyan fails to realize that he has “fallen from grace”, urging him to at least think about his family and children.

“We all see that the part of the society with sober judgment rejects this man. Nikol not only ceded Artsakh, but also put the border of Armenia in danger. As long as he stays in power, the handover of Syunik is a matter of time. This man constantly contributes to the downfall of Armenia. He is a man who led the nation to downfall, which is simply hard to imagine,” the analyst said.

Kiviryan stated resorting to manipulation, Pashinyan tries to mislead the society and push ahead with his “model of downfall”.

"There is a character in George Orwell’s “Animal Farm,” a pig with the ability to hypnotize other animals by twisting its tail. Nikol is just like that pig," he said.

The political analyst stated that Syunik has become a serious geopolitical factor, with superpowers fighting for the region today.

"After the fall of Artsakh and the handover of the zone near Araks, a small corridor remained [Meghri corridor], which has geopolitical significance. It can be a corridor, a door or a wall. And today the superpowers are fighting for Syunik. This struggle is going to heat up,” Kiviryan said.  

Artsakh's Human Rights Ombudsman Gegham Stepanyan extended congratulations on Labor Day celebrated on May 1. The ombudsman’s message reads:

"Dear compatriots,

Congratulations to all of us on May 1, Labor Day. Diligence, work, and respect for the working person are among our unique national features, which we must always maintain in order to strengthen our families and the state.

Labor Day is an opportunity to raise the problems faced by working people in Artsakh, as the exercise of labor rights and fair working conditions are essential for the harmonization of public relations, the strengthening of social justice and the sustainable development of the state.

There are sufficient legal guarantees for the protection of labor rights in Artsakh, but in a number of cases, labor rights violations have been reported and continue to occur, which could have been ruled out if the participants in the labor relations were sufficiently aware of labor protection mechanisms.

In 2020, The Human Rights Ombudsman received 75 applications related to labor rights, which mainly referred to the groundless termination of the employment contract, reduction of posts without a legal basis, non-provision of final settlement, imposition of disciplinary sanctions without following the procedure established by law. Due to the socio-economic situation and the scarcity of vacancies, as well as the insufficient labor market, workers often had to come to terms with the fact that their labor rights were being violated.

The situation is aggravated by the Azeri aggression unleashed against the people of Artsakh in the fall of 2020. Thousands of Artsakh workers from the territories occupied by Azerbaijan were deprived of the opportunity to exercise their labor rights, our compatriots working in the field of agriculture were deprived of their dignified employment.

In such conditions, greater efforts are required to improve the labor market and provide society with decent work.

Congratulating again on this day, I wish that with our daily work we will be able to stand up and develop our homeland and build a competitive state, ensuring modern methods and standards of work organization and protection of workers' rights."