Author: Badalian Vardan

RAFFI HOVANNISIAN CONTINUE SON COMBAT CONTRE SERGE SARKISSIAN

Le leader de l’opposition Raffi Hovannisian a accuse le president
Serge Sarkissian mardi 19 mars 2013 de mentir au sujet de leur reunion
a huis clos tenue trois jours après l’election presidentielle du mois
dernier. Serge Sarkissian a declare lundi 18 mars que, lors de cette
reunion, son principal challenger avait reconnu sa victoire.

” Je n’ai pas dit que je n’avais pas remporte l’election lors de
cette reunion. En fait, j’ai dit que les elections ont ete truquees
“, a declare Hovannisian lors d’un rassemblement place de la Liberte
a Erevan. Hovannisian a ajoute qu’il n’avait pas ete question d’un
quelconque partage du pouvoir avec Serge Sarkissian. ” Nous n’avons
jamais parle de mon eventuelle entree au gouvernement. Lui-meme a
convenu que ce serait une erreur “, a-t-il dit.

Serge Sarkissian a, quant a lui, confirme lundi qu’il lui a propose
d’etre a la tete d’une commission multipartite chargee de rediger des
amendements a la Constitution et de les soumettre au referendum dans
un delai de trois ans. R. Hovannisian a rejete cette proposition.

mercredi 20 mars 2013, Laetitia ©armenews.com

K. RUBINIAN: PARTIES SHOULD BECOME NORMAL OR BE DISSOLVED

Wednesday,
March 20

“There is a multiparty system in Armenia, but there are no parties
as such or else there exist parties of one man with a group of people
united round money,” the former member of Armenian National Congress
(HAK) Karapet Rubinian said in Liberty Square today, when discussing
the proposal to shift to a parliamentary system.

He said this problem should be regulated by the law: all parties
should become normal or be dissolved. In Rubinian’s words, it is
incomprehensible how such parties will make up a parliament.

K. Rubinian recalled that 20 years ago discussions were already held
on this subject, but stereotypes prevailed at the time that power
cannot be weakened in a country which is at war. “Besides, after the
collapse of the Soviet Union, there was an opinion that all countries
elect their presidents so we should also have one. I also succumbed
to such stereotypes,” Rubinian noted.

In the opinion of Rubinian, the time has come to do it. “We have an
elected president who is in favor of shifting to the parliamentary
system of government. We need to conduct a referendum on this reform,”
he said.

19.03.2013, 22:12

Aysor.am

SERZH SARGSYAN MEETS POPE FRANCIS

16:00, 19 March, 2013

YEREVAN, MARCH 19, ARMENPRESS. The President of the Republic of
Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, who paid a visit to Vatican to take part in
the inauguration ceremony of Pope Francis, had a brief meeting with
the new leader of the Catholic Church. As reports “Armenpress” citing
nouvelles d’Armenie, Pope Francis had a conversation and received
congratulations from 34 world leaders including the President of
the Republic of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan. Armenian believers attended
Pope’s inauguration ceremony as well. They waved the Armenian flag
in Saint Peter’s Square.

While introducing the footage of meeting of the President of the
Republic of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan with the Pope of Rome BFM TV
stated that our country is among the most significant countries
having Christian values, which was the first in the world to adopt
Christianity as a state religion.

The inauguration ceremony of newly elected Pope of Rome Francis
launched in Vatican. Delegations from 132 countries of the world
along with 34 world leaders attended the inauguration ceremony. The
President of the Republic of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, German Chancellor
Angela Merkel, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and his French
counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault are among key European leaders, who
attended the ceremony, along with EU President Herman Van Rompuy and
European Commission head Jose Manuel Barosso, US Vice President Joe
Biden, a practicing Catholic, Argentine President Cristina Kirchner,
and many others. Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians
Karekin II headed the Armenian delegation at the inauguration ceremony
of newly elected Pope of Rome Francis. The Director of the Publishing
Department of the Mother See Archbishop Natan Hovhannisyan, the
Head of Inter-Church Relations Department of the Mother See of Holy
Etchmiadzin Bishop Hovakim Manukyan, and Fr. Anania Tzaturyan are
included in the delegation. Catholicos Patriarch of Cilicia of the
Armenian Catholics Nerses Bedros XIX also attended the inauguration.

On Wednesday, after what is viewed as a short conclave, white smoke
from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel heralded that a gathering of
Catholic cardinals picked a new pope, choosing the first pontiff from
Americas to lead the Roman Catholic Church.

The 76-year-old pope will be called Francis, the 266th pontiff of the
Roman Catholic Church and the first member of the Jesuit order to lead
the church and the first none-European pope in more than 1,200 years.

“Pray for me, and we’ll see each other soon,” the pope told the crowd
of more than 100,000 gathered at St. Peter’s Square.

Newly-elected Pope Francis urged Turkey to unconditionally recognize
the Armenian Genocide seven years ago. During events marking the 91st
anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in Buenos Aires, then Archbishop
of Buenos Aires Jorge Mario Bergoglio urged Turkey to recognize the
Genocide as the “gravest crime of Ottoman Turkey against the Armenian
people and the entire humanity.”

ARFD PROPOSES ROADMAP

Tuesday,
March 19

The post-election situation in Armenia needs to be settled. The
ultimatum, acute confrontation, and the unwillingness to make any
concessions will further deepen the divisions between society,
the authorities and political forces, the secretary of the
ARF-Dashnaktsutyun faction Aghvan Vardanian said in the parliament
today.

“If we fail to alleviate tension, we will reduce the opportunities
of Armenia’s development and create an atmosphere of indifference
and frustration, and emigration will become a national problem,” A.
Vardanian noted.

In his words, a solution can be found only in case of reaching a
political accord.

“Such accord will help change the current situation, and there are
grounds for it as all the sides show a constructive approach. We have
developed a roadmap, which proposes such measures as drastic amendments
to the Electoral Code within a year, a shift to the 100% proportional
electoral system, publication of voter lists, as well as holding
a constitutional referendum and new parliamentary elections within
2-2.5 years, formation of a single system involving the authorities
and opposition, in which the opposition will have efficient powers
to control the authorities,” the ARFD deputy said.

TODAY, 20:33

Aysor.am

ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT TO ENFORCE ELECTRONIC GUILLOTINE

YEREVAN, March 19. /ARKA/. Chaired by Armenian Prime Minister Tigran
Sargsyan, the Economic Legislation Reform Council met today in the
Office of Government. Apart from council members, the meeting was
attended by OSCE, UNDP, U.S. Agency for International Development,
World Bank and Austrian Development Agency representatives.

The meeting approved the transition program and the legal act
inventory checklist as developed by the National Center for Streamlined
Legislation based on the recommendations made at the latest council
meeting by Scott Jacobs, author of Regulatory Guillotine fast reform
tool and chief consultant for the Armenia program. The meeting also
looked at the legal act revision checklist due to be submitted to
the Council for approval following discussions with the Ministry
of Justice.

The checklists are meant to promote involvement of public agency
and business sector representatives in the revision of legal acts
and the design of legal act inventories, after which the National
Center will present a reform package based on all the stakeholders’
recommendations.

Also, there will be introduced the Electronic Guillotine,
a comprehensive database of legislation and business processes,
which in addition to providing a consolidated electronic database
will promote transparency in the relations between the State, on the
one hand, and the citizens and businesses, on the other hand.

In September 2011 president Sargsyan decreed to create the Council
to reform the legal acts regulating the sphere of economy, and to
coordinate activities to enhance the effectiveness of state regulation
of economic activity. The Council will seek to eliminate provisions
that impede the development of the market economy environment, to
simplify and improve the quality of services provided to citizens
by the state, improve legislation in this area, as well as develop
proposals to reduce inappropriate and economically inefficient
arrangements and expenses. —0—

ARMENIAN RULING PARTY CREATES ILLUSION OF DIALOGUE WITH OPPOSITION – MP

NEWS.AM
March 19, 2013 | 18:14

YEREVAN.- All political forces, except for Heritage party, participated
in the meeting initiated by Armenian parliament speaker to discuss
post-election political situation, MP Levon Zurabyan said.

Speaking in the parliament on Tuesday, MP Zurabyan said the
parliamentary forces were presented a draft bill to convene a special
parliamentary session.

“We have already stated that the deep political crisis in the country
is conditioned by the fact that the authorities have created a system
of election fraud which resulted in lack of legal authority. During
the previous meeting ANC made a proposal to reform the electoral system
in the shortest time and to hold early parliamentary and presidential
elections,” Zurabyan said.

He noted that the draft bill submitted by the ruling party is not
showing the way out of the situation.

“The bill contains only vague wording of the constitutional and
electoral reforms,” he said, adding that the ruling party creates
the illusion of a dialogue with the opposition.

NGOS PROPOSE TO REVISE AGRICULTURAL REFORMS PROJECTED IN ARMENIA’S PROSPECTIVE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIC PROGRAM

YEREVAN, March 20. /ARKA/. The agriculture-related section of Armenia’s
Prospective Development Strategic Program for 2012-2025 needs revision
and amendment, Sarkis Sedrakyan, coordinator of this project’s sectoral
group, said on Wednesday.

“We are discussing this program,” he told ARKA News Agency. “The
project is focused on agricultural reforms. There are some problems
in this area. For example, Armenian villagers leave their homes.”

He said that the document indicates no clear mechanisms for
implementing these agricultural reforms.

“We’ll continue discussing the project and will submit the summary
of these discussions to the government,” he said.

Sedrakyan singled out outflow of population from rural areas as one
of the gravest problems.

Among problems he also pointed out that banks cut their lending
to farmers.

The coordinator finds it necessary to tighten grip upon imported
seeds and drugs for cattle – smuggling cases have become frequent,
and quality of agricultural products have fallen.

Participants of discussions also stressed that Armenia’s rural areas
are badly in need of veterinaries.

“The thing is that one veterinarian has to service six villages,
but this is not possible,” said Alexan Petrosyan, a veterinarian and
a representative of the Development of Agriculture nongovernmental
organization. “It means this approach is ineffective. Besides,
veterinarians’ salary is very small – they earn 6,500 drams a month
for serving one village.”

Young veterinarians are in want in villages.

The objectives of the strategic program are to create new jobs,
develop human resources, reform the social security system, ensure
institutional improvement to governing institutions etc. ($1- AMD
415.45). -0-

OF THE 219 SCHOOLS ONLY 50 ARE CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET

Wednesday, 20 March 2013 13:18

This year construction activities will continue in 33 learning
centres of the Republic, 8 of which are kindergartens, NKR Minister
of education and science Slava Asryan announced during his press
conference of March 18.

“At present the construction activities of the new building of the
Stepanakert branch of the Armenian Agrarian University and the French
model vocational college are going on in Shoushi. As for the supply
of the material and technical resources 7 schools of the Republic
have been equipped correspondingly,” S. Asryan noted.

As the Minister reported only 40 to 50 schools of the 219 ones are
connected to the Internet. Meanwhile, he expressed hope that due to
“Karabakh Telecom” CJSC’s extension activities of their network will
enable to provide other schools as well with Internet connection.

SO THAT THE FATHERLAND DOES NOT BECOME HISTORICAL

March 19 2013

I received a letter from a village in Armenia yesterday. Letters sent
in an old-fashioned way, on paper, are usually related to some social
problem or an argument with a neighbor. However, this citizen writes
10 pages by hand about the events of 1916-17, which are connected
with the Armenian Question this way or another. The writer of the
letter also asks whether he understood those events correctly or not.

Probably, the writer thinks the world of me. However, I thought about
something else; we, Armenians, are very concerned about our history,
and it is not a bad thing in itself. However, for some reason, we
are more interested in the pages of history concerning our losses,
sufferings, and miseries. For example, no one would write me a letter
about the liberation of Shushi, but there are as many letters as you
please about the fact that we had so much territory, could have so
much, if the roguish Bolsheviks and Turks didn~Rt prevent us. Perhaps
the comparison is inappropriate, but when our soccer team loses,
we necessarily blame the referee for ~Sselling out.~T In such cases,
a question arises where we, Armenians, were among those cunning and
guileful Turks, Russians, Byzantines, Arabs, and Persians. Did we
just heroically struggle, were we a bit naïve, and did the others
always deceive us? And when we really struggled heroically won, it
is not attached too much importance to either, it is subordinated
to other problems; for example, that heroic period is presented as
~Sthe years of cold and darkness.~T While judging about historic
and contemporary events, we seem to be overwhelmed by emotions. The
conversation of the President of the Republic of Armenia with us,
journalists, made me think of all this. I don~Rt agree with many
ideas expressed by Serzh Sargsyan, but ~V certainly, realizing that
the commenters will lash out at me ~V let me talk about one idea, with
which I agree. I am talking about the recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh,
from which neither Armenia, nor the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic will
gain any political, economic, or moral benefits at this moment,
but it will just poison our relations with the Minsk Group co-chair
countries, i.e. the most important countries for us. ~SPerhaps,
there will be an Armenian in Toronto who will be proud that Armenia
has recognized the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic,~T Serzh Sargsyan said
yesterday. But we don~Rt live in Toronto, do we? What I want to say
is that we should not always remember about our losses, but rather,
demonstrating certain pragmatism, maintain what we have. So that it
doesn~Rt also become the historical fatherland, which, as we know,
is easier to love than the real one. ARAM ABRAHAMYAN

Read more at:

© 1998 – 2013 Aravot ~V News from Armenia

SUREN ZOLYAN APPEALS TO EUROPEAN COURT

ARMINFO
Wednesday, March 20, 14:02

The former rector of Yerevan State Linguistic University after Valeriy
Bryusov, Suren Zolyan, said at today’s press-conference that he hopes
that the verdict on his case will be attained correct as the judge is
professional. The Appeal Court of Armenia will attain a verdict on
Zolyan’s case on 21 March. Certainly, Zolyan does not hope for fair
verdict, but before appealing to the European Court on Human Rights
he has to pass through local instances.

He also said that this court proceeding is a political order of the
justice ministry and prime minister. “Plato said that the biggest
crime is injustice against a state because of which states ruin. For
this reason, if I think that our functionaries are criminals, as they
are more dangerous than bandits, let them not to be offended, as our
functionaries talk on behalf of Armenia but commit unlawful acts”,
– Zolyan said.

To recall, on 17 April 2012, Armenia’s Education Minister Armen
Ashotyan signed a decree according to which Suren Zolyan was dismissed
from the position of rector of the University.