Wednesday, March 11, 2020
Armenia Confirms 3 New Coronavirus Cases
March 11, 2020
Armenia reported three new cases of coronavirus on Wednesday, bringing the total
of confirmed cases to four as the World Health Organization declared the
outbreak of the disease a pandemic.
In a Facebook post Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said that two of the people
testing positive for the coronavirus infection known as COVID-19 are citizens of
Armenia aged 45 and 27 and one is a 51-year-old Italian who works in Armenia.
“All three had arrived from Italy,” he said, adding that authorities are
currently looking to determine the scope of their contacts for further
quarantine, which, “according to preliminary data, is not large”.
According to the Armenian premier, the Italian citizen and one of the citizens
of Armenia do not have any complaints, while one of the citizens of Armenia is
suffering from pneumonia. The patients, according to Pashinian, were registered
as soon as they arrived in Armenia.
“Anticipating criticism as to why no decision had been made to stop flights from
Italy, I’d say that we have discussed this possibility several times, arriving
at the obvious conclusion that potential carriers could come to Armenia from
countries neighboring Italy -- France, Austria, because no borders are used
inside the EU. That is to say, we would have to shut down other European
destinations following the same logic, especially since the coronavirus
infection is spreading to other European countries as well. Now the airlines
have decided to stop flights from Italy,” Pashinian wrote.
Armenia reported its first coronavirus case on March 1. A 29-year-old citizen of
Armenia who had been evacuated from coronavirus-hit Iran along with scores of
others had tested positive and was hospitalized. Thirty-one other citizens who
may have had close contact with the infected person had also been placed under a
two-week quarantine in a disused hotel in Armenia’s resort town of Tsaghkadzor.
Pashinian said that those quarantined in Tsaghkadzor and the first diagnosed
patient feel well and have no complaints. At the same time, he called on people
to remain calm and follow recommendations of the Ministry of Health regarding
basic protective measures against the new coronavirus.
Since the first confirmed COVID-19 case in Armenia authorities in Yerevan
tightened controls at the border with Iran and re-introduced entry visas for
Iranian citizens.
On March 10, Armenia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged Armenian citizens to
strictly refrain from visiting Italy, which appears to be the country hit by
COVID-19 the hardest outside of China, with the number of infected exceeding
10,000 and 631 confirmed deaths.
The Ministry also urged Armenian citizens who are already in Italy to “urgently
suspend their trips and return to Armenia.”
That same day budget airline Ryanair announced suspension of all flights from
Yerevan to Italy and back until April 8.
Armenia’s Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinian announced later today that a
charter flight from Rome to Yerevan will be organized on March 15 to evacuate
Armenian citizens from Italy. He said that the Armenian government, the Armenian
airline, Atlantis European Airways, and the Armenia International Airports
company will cover the financial expenses connected with the flight.
“The time of the flight and the airport from which it is to be operated will be
reported additionally through Armenia’s embassy in Italy,” Avinian said on
Facebook.
“I urge Armenian citizens who are in Italy for short-term visits, study and
business trips to contact our embassy within the shortest possible time,” he
added.
‘Large-Scale’ Constitutional Reform Discussed In Armenia
March 11, 2020
• Tatevik Lazarian
Daniel Ioannisian, Coordinator of the Union of Informed Citizens, March 11, 2020
Beyond the constitutional amendment concerning seven judges of the
Constitutional Court that Armenians are going to vote on in next month’s
referendum, Armenia also considers carrying out a ‘large-scale’ reform of its
basic law, according to an expert.
Coordinator of the Union of Informed Citizens Daniel Ioannisian, who represents
civil society in the commission set up to draft constitutional amendments, said
the body has already held two meetings, outlining the scope of changes.
“My impression is that we are going to deal with not just some minor changes,
but with quite large-scale ones,” he said on Wednesday.
The expert said that four working groups have been formed for more frequent
meetings. All meetings are held behind closed doors, and, according to
Ioannisian, the range of issues discussed is large – from expanding
opportunities for holding referendums to restoring direct presidential
elections, changing the provision on ‘stable parliamentary majority’ and
lowering the age of voters.
Ioannisian found it difficult to say what outcome the current discussions will
have. “We are still at a stage where we are discussing what should be
discussed,” he said.
The commission, which was formed at the beginning of the year, is chaired by
Armenia’s representative to the European Court of Human Rights. It also includes
the minister of justice, the head of the parliament’s standing committee on
legal affairs, the ombudsman, one representative from the General Assembly of
Judges, two representatives from non-governmental organizations, as well as six
lawyers and one representative from each of the three parliamentary factions.
Initially it was thought that a referendum on large-scale constitutional changes
could be held at the end of 2020, but then Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian
expressed the opinion that the referendum could be combined with the next
parliamentary elections, which are due in 2023. But Ioannisian believes it would
be good to have a constitutional referendum preceding parliamentary elections.
“The Commission is also discussing issues related to the formation of the
National Assembly, such as the issue of so-called stable majority. Naturally,
these are issues that must be resolved before elections to the National Assembly
and cannot be resolved simultaneously with these elections,” he said, adding
that the constitutional referendum and subsequent changes in the election laws
should be completed at least one year before the elections.
According to the prime minister’s decision, the concept of constitutional
amendments should be ready by April, and the draft amendments themselves should
be prepared by September 1. Ioannisian hopes that these deadlines will be
revised to give the Commission more time for such a “large-scale” draft.
Taron Simonian, a representative of the opposition Bright Armenia party in the
Commission, agrees that while constitutional changes should be drafted as
quickly as possible, their quality should not be jeopardized because of that.
From the outset Bright Armenia stated that they will seek to have changes of
fundamental importance to them included in the draft, including the abolishment
of the ‘stable majority’ provision and ending what it describes as the
“super-prime-ministerial system”, in which the incumbent prime minister, as the
opposition believes, wields disproportionately broad powers.
“We participate in the meetings of the Commission with our agenda… We will
continue to promote this agenda and expect serious changes in the Constitution.
But if we see that our partners want rather superfluous changes, we will
naturally express our negative position,” Simonian said.
Armenian PM Apologizes For Snubbing Villager
March 11, 2020
• Artak Khulian
• Karine Simonian
34-year-old resident of the village of Kurtan Mekhak Arakelian said he bore no
grudge against the prime minister
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has offered his apology to a 34-year-old
man whom he snubbed during a recent trip to the Lori province where he also
campaigned ahead of next month’s constitutional referendum.
Addressing a rally in Sisian in Armenia’s southern province of Syunik on
Wednesday, Pashinian referred to his March 7 conversation with Kurtan village
resident Mekhak Arakelian, who had approached him and asked for assistance in
improving his housing conditions.
Pashinian then told the man: “You are a healthy person and you should solve your
housing problems yourself. You should work and solve this problem. I am sorry to
say this, but it is also a matter of dignity. Is it right for one healthy man to
be asking another healthy man to solve his housing and livelihood problems? Get
a job and solve your family’s problems.”
Earlier this week one of the local news sites published a story about Arakelian,
a father of two who has multiple health problems and has lived in dire
conditions in a makeshift house after losing his ancestral home in a 1988
devastating earthquake.
The man speaking humbly about his plight admitted that approaching Pashinian was
an embarrassing experience for him. “He beat me. He said what he was going to
say and I couldn’t say anything back.”
“I wish I had the health to have a job and maintain my family,” Arakelian added.
Pashinian acknowledged on Wednesday having made a misjudgment.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian addressing a rally in Syunik province,
March 11, 2020
“I admit two mistakes that I made. First, I overestimated my ability to assess a
person’s health condition by his appearance. And secondly, I underestimated the
circumstance that a citizen may get overwhelmed when talking to the prime
minister and may fail to speak about his health problems. I want to apologize to
Mekhak [Arakelian] and all citizens of Armenia for these two mistakes,” the
prime minister said, drawing applause from the rally crowd.
Arakelian later told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service (Azatutyun.am) that he accepted
Pashinian’s apology. “I bear no grudge against him,” he said.
Also on Wednesday pro-government lawmaker Sipan Pashinian, who is the prime
minister’s cousin, visited Arakelian and told him that after watching the video
some people, including in the Diaspora, expressed their readiness to assist his
family. He did not specify what kind of assistance would be provided to the
Arakelians lest it should be viewed as a voter incentive in the ongoing
referendum campaign.
Pashinian Unveils Draft Referendum Manifesto
March 11, 2020
• Artak Khulian
• Anush Mkrtchian
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian reads out a draft referendum manifesto
during a campaign rally in Goris, March 11, 2020
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has made public a draft manifesto ahead
of a constitutional referendum slated for April 5 in which citizens will be
asked to approve the termination of powers of several High Court judges.
Pashinian and his political team accuse Constitutional Court Chairman Hrayr
Tovmasian and six other judges of maintaining ties to Armenia’s former
leadership and impeding reforms that they say are aimed at creating an
independent judiciary.
They believe that the Constitutional Court members elected before the 2015
constitution was fully enforced in April 2018 must be removed from office and
new judges must be elected to replace them.
Opposition parties accuse the prime minister of seeking to gain undue control
over the Constitutional Court. They have refused to engage in campaigning
against the proposed amendment, rejecting the referendum as unconstitutional.
Speaking at a public rally in Goris in Armenia’s southern Syunik province,
Pashinian read out the draft of the ‘Yes’ campaign’s manifesto that he said is
open for proposals to be elaborated before being finally adopted and published
several days before the referendum.
It says that by approving changes to the constitution the people are “closing
the page of the presence of illegitimate state bodies and officials in Armenia.”
The text of the proposed manifesto, in particular, states that “in the period
from 1995 to 2018 when the non-violent, velvet people’s revolution took place,
the official results of all nationwide elections did not reflect the free will
of the people, except for the results of the 1999 parliamentary elections that
were nullified by the October 27, 1999 terrorist attack on parliament.”
According to the draft manifesto, “along with the process of rigging elections
in Armenia a corrupt system was being formed leading to systemic corruption.”
Pashinian emphasized that systemic corruption existed in Armenia until the 2018
revolution and was expressed by “widespread bribery, the vicious system of
kickbacks from government spending, the establishment of artificial economic
monopolies, the fusion of business and presidential, legislative, executive and
judicial powers.”
“Under this system, the presidential, legislative, executive and judicial
authorities, including the Constitutional Court, largely served their own
personal and group interests, ignoring the national and state interests of the
Republic of Armenia and the Armenian people and principles of rule of law in the
country, hindering Armenia’s progress and the well-being of its people. As a
result, many senior government officials have illegally accumulated enormous
amounts of wealth,” Pashinian continued.
The restitution of wealth “illegally accumulated by high-ranking state
officials”, according to the draft manifesto, is “an inalienable right of the
Republic of Armenia and its people.” “This process should take place exclusively
in a legal way, with the formation of an effective law-enforcement system in the
Republic of Armenia, an independent judiciary, including an independent and
legitimate Constitutional Court,” the prime minister underscored.
Pashinian also called for the formation of effective mechanisms for separating
business from power. “Power cannot be a means for accumulating wealth or
preserving the accumulated wealth,” he said.
According to the document, “only an electoral system that ensures the free
expression of the will of the people can be a guarantee of a state
administration system with effective mechanisms of checks and balances.”
“Therefore, the people of Armenia will not tolerate any illegal influence on the
will of voters, any falsification, misrepresentation or neglect of the ballot
results.”
Pashinian took a vacation on March 10 to kick off a series of public rallies in
Armenian provinces and capital Yerevan ahead of the referendum.
By contrast, the ‘No’ campaign represented by a group of lawyers has said it
will not be holding any public rallies, but will limit its campaigning to
Facebook posts about alleged violations and reports to the Central Election
Commission.
Its representatives have criticized the Pashinian-led campaign for allegedly
using administrative resources. Officials have rejected the criticism.
Head of the Central Election Commission Tigran Mukuchian told RFE/RL’s Armenian
Service (Azatutyun.am) on Wednesday that the election body has not yet received
any formal complaint regarding any violations during the campaign. He said that
according to their observations, in general the campaign is taking place in
accordance with the principles stipulated by the legislation concerning the
holding of elections and referendums.
The Prosecutor’s Office, meanwhile, said that out of 19 reports of
administrative violations related to the referendum campaign they are currently
probing only two, with the rest having been dismissed after no evidence of any
violations has been found.
In December, Constitutional Court Chairman Tovmasian was charged with abuse of
power while he was serving as justice minister in 2010-2014. He has denied the
accusation as politically motivated.
Earlier in December, a controversial law gave Tovmasian and the six other
Constitutional Court members financial incentives to resign before the end of
their mandates. None of them has accepted the offer.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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