Friday,
Armenian President, Speaker Discuss Political Crisis
Armenia -- President Armen Sarkissian (R) and parliament speaker Ararat Mirzoyan
meet in Yerevan, .
President Armen Sarkissian met with a key political ally of Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian on Friday after discussing mounting political tensions in Armenia with
his two predecessors critical of the current government.
Sarkissian’s press office said he and parliament speaker Ararat Mirzoyan
“exchanged thoughts on the current situation in the country and spoke about
possible ways of resolving it.”
A statement by the Armenian parliament said the two men discussed the domestic
political situation and each other’s “visions for resolving a number of issues.”
It too did not elaborate.
Sarkissian held similar consultations with former Presidents Robert Kocharian
and Serzh Sarkisian earlier this week. All three men publicly called on
Pashinian to resign as prime minister and pave the way for fresh parliamentary
elections following the Russian-mediated ceasefire that stopped the war in
Nagorno-Karabakh on November 10.
Kocharian has been particularly scathing about Pashinian’s handling of the war
that resulted in heavy Armenian casualties and territorial losses. He has
encouraged his supporters to participate in ongoing anti-government protests
staged by opposition parties.
Pashinian has rejected opposition demands for his resignation, the formation of
an interim government and the holding of snap parliamentary elections. At the
same time he signaled through some of his allies readiness to discuss with the
opposition the possibility of such a vote.
Mirzoyan was beaten up and severely injured early on November 10 as angry mobs
attacked and ransacked key state buildings in Yerevan following the announcement
of the ceasefire agreement. The 41-year-old speaker, who is a leading member of
Pashinian’s Civil Contract party, underwent several surgeries as a result.
Sarkissian again strongly condemned the beating and said “any manifestation of
violence” is unacceptable. According to his office, the president also called on
Armenian political actors to show “restraint” and avoid violent actions or calls
for violence.
The parliament statement likewise said that Sarkissian and Mirzoyan spoke out
against any violent methods of political struggle.
Yerevan Seeks End To Russian Entry Ban For Armenians
RUSSIA -- A passenger waits at a coronavirus testing station at the Vnukovo
airport in Moscow, October 8, 2020
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Friday again called on Russia to lift a
coronavirus-related entry ban for Armenian nationals which has aggravated
Armenia’s economic problems.
The Russian government banned the entry of visitors from many foreign countries
this spring in a bid to contain the coronavirus pandemic. A few months later it
allowed citizens of some of those countries, including all other members of the
Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) except Armenia, to visit Russia.
The ban directly affected tens of thousands of Armenian migrant workers earning
a living in Russia on a seasonal or permanent basis. Many of them had to return
to Armenia following lockdown restrictions imposed across Russia in March.
Most migrant workers have had trouble finding jobs in Armenia since then. The
Armenian economy is on course to contract by at least 7 percent this year due to
the pandemic and the recent war in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The Armenian government has repeatedly pressed Moscow to lift the ban in recent
months. Russian officials have yet to publicly say when that could happen.
Pashinian raised the matter at a virtual summit of EEU leaders held on Friday.
“Unfettered cargo and passenger traffic with the other countries of the Union is
of fundamental importance to us,” Pashinian told the presidents of Russia,
Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
“Restrictions are especially sensitive in this area, and the creation of
conditions for lifting the bans on the entry of Armenian citizens into a number
of EEU member states is therefore imperative now,” he said.
Armenia -- Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian attends a virtual summit of
the Eurasian Economic Union from Yerevan, .
All of those ex-Soviet states have been hit hard by the pandemic. The Armenian
authorities have confirmed over 146,000 COVID-19 cases and 2,445 deaths caused
by them in the country of about 3 million. The real number of cases is believed
to be much higher.
Pashinian also reiterated his calls for the creation of a single energy market
that would lower the cost of Russian natural gas imported by Armenia and other
EEU member states.
The gas price is currently significantly lower for consumers in Russia than
other ex-Soviet states making up the trade bloc. Armenia and Belarus want Moscow
to agree to uniform EEU energy tariffs.
Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected the idea at an EEU summit in May,
implying that Yerevan and Minsk should agree first to even deeper economic
integration with Moscow which would result in a “single budget and system of
taxation” for all EEU member states.
Government’s Resignation Nonnegotiable For Tsarukian’s Party
• Naira Nalbandian
Armenia -- Opposition supporters demonstrate in Yerevan to demand Prme Minister
Nikol Pashinian's resignation, .
The resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and his cabinet remains a
necessary condition for holding fresh parliamentary elections in Armenia, Gagik
Tsarukian’s opposition Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) insisted on Friday.
A senior member of the BHK’s parliamentary group, the second largest in the
National Assembly, stood by opposition claims that Pashinian’s government has
lost its legitimacy as a result of the war in Nagorno-Karabakh.
“A government solely associated with defeat, loss of lands and capitulation
cannot organize and hold pre-term parliamentary elections,” said Iveta Tonoyan.
“I do realize that the authorities could take that step … and use their
administrative resources to achieve [electoral] victory and retain power. But I
repeat that we have only one political agenda now: the change of the government
and only then the conduct of fresh parliamentary elections under a new prime
minister,” she told reporters.
The BHK is part of a coalition of more than a dozen opposition parties staging
street protests and demanding that Pashinian hand over power to an interim
government tasked with holding the snap elections within a year.
The prime minister and his political team reject the opposition demands. Still,
a senior member of the ruling My Step bloc indicated on Thursday that the
country’s leadership is ready to discuss with the opposition the possibility of
fresh polls.
Both the BHK and the Bright Armenia Party (LHK), the second and more moderate
parliamentary opposition force, said they have received no such offers from My
Step yet.
LHK leader Edmon Marukian signaled his readiness to hold election-related talks
with the authorities.
“If they are talking about holding the elections after enacting a [new]
Electoral Code there should certainly be discussions because the rules of the
game must be clear to all players,” Marukian told a news conference.
“I don’t know who will hold the pre-term elections but I predict that they will
take place after six months at the latest,” he said.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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