Author: Emil Lazarian

                                        Thursday, 
President Defends Pashinian Against Opposition Criticism
        • Astghik Bedevian
Armenia - Vahagn Khachatrian prepares to address the National Assembly before 
being elected by it as president of Armenia, Yerevan, March 2, 2022.
President Vahagn Khachaturian has defended Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s 
domestic policies and conciliatory line on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict 
strongly criticized by the Armenian opposition.
In an interview with Armenian Public Television aired late on Wednesday, 
Khachaturian insisted that Pashinian’s government is right to avoid publicly 
stating that Nagorno-Karabakh cannot be placed back under Azerbaijani rule.
“If you say that, you will lose room for maneuver,” he said. “We must be able to 
tell policy and diplomacy from populism and public discourse.”
“The people who are in charge of the negotiating process and our country must 
not be stripped of that possibility. The prime minister had the courage to 
openly talk about that. What’s wrong with it?” added the largely ceremonial head 
of state who was elected by Armenia’s parliament in February.
Addressing the parliament controlled by his party on April 13, Pashinian said 
the international community is pressing Yerevan to “lower the bar” on the status 
of Karabakh acceptable to the Armenian side. He signaled his readiness to make 
such concessions to Azerbaijan.
The country’s leading opposition groups condemned the speech as further proof of 
Pashinian’s readiness to recognize Azerbaijani sovereignty over the disputed 
territory. They launched on May 1 daily protests in Yerevan aimed at forcing the 
prime minister to resign.
Armenia - Opposition supporters demonstrate in Yerevan, May 4, 2022.
During the six-week protests, the opposition tried unsuccessfully to push 
through the parliament a resolution rejecting any peace deal with Baku that 
would restore Azerbaijani control over Karabakh.
Khachaturian deplored the opposition leaders’ tough anti-government statements 
made during the protests. He also denied the existence of political prisoners in 
Armenia and other authoritarian practices alleged by Pashinian’s detractors.
“If there was dictatorship nobody would demonstrate in the streets,” reasoned 
the president.
Lilit Galstian, a parliament deputy from the main opposition Hayastan alliance, 
hit back at Khachaturian on Thursday. Galstian said he proved that he is a 
partisan figure who ignores constitutional provisions requiring the president of 
the republic not to side with any political faction.
“He probably suffers from political blindness,” she told RFE/RL’s Armenian 
Service.
Khachaturian, 62, is an economist who had served as mayor of Yerevan from 
1992-1996 during former President Levon Ter-Petrosian’s rule. He was a staunch 
political ally of Ter-Petrosian until agreeing to join Pashinian’s government 
last August.
Galstian charged that just like Pashinian, Khachaturian is not committed to 
defending the Karabakh Armenians’ right to self-determination.
Pashinian and other Armenian officials say that a peace deal with Baku must 
address the issue of Karabakh’s future status. But they have not publicly 
clarified what they believe that status should be.
Head Of Armenian Judicial Watchdog Sacked After Accusing Government Of Blackmail
        • Naira Nalbandian
Armenia -- Ruben Vartazarian, head of the Supreme Judicial Council, holds a news 
conference in Yerevan, September 4, 2019.
The nominal head of a state body overseeing Armenia’s courts was formally 
relieved of his duties on Thursday three days after publicizing what he sees as 
evidence of illegal government pressure exerted on him.
Ruben Vartazarian was already suspended as chairman of the Supreme Judicial 
Council (SJC) in April 2021 immediately after being charged with obstruction of 
justice amid rising tensions with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian. Pashinian’s 
political allies accused him of encouraging courts to free arrested government 
critics.
Vartazarian denied the charges and said that he was indicted as part of 
government efforts to replace him with Gagik Jahangirian, a controversial former 
prosecutor widely seen as a figure loyal to Pashinian. Jahangirian was named as 
acting head of the SJC pending the outcome of the criminal investigation into 
Vartazarian, which is still going on.
The SJC launched disciplinary proceedings against Vartazarian last month 
following a newspaper interview in which he claimed that Jahangirian was 
appointed as a member of the judicial watchdog in breach of Armenian law.
In its decision read out by Jahangirian, the SJC said Vartazarian has been 
sacked as both chairman and member of the council as well as judge of a Yerevan 
court of first instance for a “significant disciplinary violation.” The decision 
was backed by eight of the nine other SJC members.
Armenia - Gagik Jahangirian chairs a session of the Supreme Judicial Council, 
Yerevan, July 26, 2021.
Jahangirian claimed that the decision was made on June 16 and is only being made 
public now. He thus seemed to deny any connection between it and a scandalous 
audio of his February 2021 meeting with Vartazarian which the latter secretly 
recorded and publicized on June 20.
The 14-minute recording suggests that Jahangirian warned Vartazarian to resign 
or face criminal charges. He also said he wants to help Pashinian prevent former 
President Robert Kocharian from returning to power.
The audio caused uproar in Armenia, with opposition and civil society figures 
describing it as clear evidence of political orders executed by Jahangirian and 
his illegal interference in the work of law-enforcement bodies. They said that 
he must be not only sacked but also prosecuted.
The country’s main opposition groups portray Vartazarian’s revelation as further 
proof that Pashinian’s administration has been trying to tighten control over 
the judiciary, rather than reform it.
The SJC discussed the scandal on Tuesday but did not move to take even 
disciplinary action against its acting head.
For their part, prosecutors ordered the Investigative Committee to look into the 
audio. The law-enforcement agency has still not opened a criminal case in 
connection with it.
Vartazarian’s lawyer, Hovannes Khudoyan, said on Thursday that his client has 
been summoned to the Investigative Committee for questioning.
Armenia’s Ruling Party Accused Of Curbing Local Democracy
        • Artak Khulian
Armenia - Riot police guard the entrance to the headquarters of the ruling Civil 
Contract party in Yerevan, June 20, 2022.
The ruling Civil Contract party has drafted legislation which critics say would 
allow the Armenian authorities to force opposition members of local councils to 
elect pro-government mayors of cities and other communities.
Until last year, the councils elected by local voters were required to appoint 
the mayors by secret ballot. The Armenian parliament controlled by Civil 
Contract scrapped this requirement and introduced an open ballot system ahead of 
local elections held in the vast majority of the country’s communities last fall.
The party led by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian suffered serious setbacks during 
those polls. It now wants to revert to the secret ballot. Lawmakers representing 
it have added a relevant provision to a package of fresh draft amendments to the 
Electoral Code unveiled this month.
Opposition parties have not yet commented on the proposed change. But some civic 
activists have expressed serious concern.
Daniel Ioannisian of the Yerevan-based Union of Informed Citizens claimed on 
Thursday that Pashinian’s political team is seeking a legal tool for effectively 
overturning unfavorable local election results through “political trading.” He 
said it tried unsuccessfully do this in the wake of last fall’s polls.
“The authorities tried to put pressure and convince or buy -- not necessarily 
with money, but by offering, for example, a job, as they tried to do in Meghri 
-- opposition members [of newly elected councils] so that they vote for Civil 
Contract,” Ioannisian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “Many oppositionists did 
not vote for Civil Contract, and in all of those communities except Talin 
opposition mayors were elected in the end.”
Armenia - Daniel Ioannisian is interviewed by RFE/RL. June 20, 2021.
Ioannisian said the ruling party’s attempts were foiled by the open ballot 
system. “Now they want to make things secret again,” added the prominent 
activist.
One of the authors of the bill, Vahagn Hovakimian, denied that the authorities 
want to be able to co-opt opposition members of local councils. He claimed that 
the controversial amendment is aimed at facilitating power-sharing deals among 
election contenders.
The ruling party has reportedly begun preparations for the next municipal 
elections in Yerevan. The city’s current municipal council and mayor elected by 
it are due to complete their terms in office in September 2023. According to 
some media reports, Pashinian and his entourage may cut short their tenure and 
hold the elections this fall.
Ioannisian pointed out that Armenia’s former leadership exploited the secret 
ballot after being defeated in a local election held in the country’s third 
largest city of Vanadzor in 2016. Its mayoral candidate, Mamikon Aslanian, got 
elected at the time because some opposition members of the city council broke 
ranks and voted for him for still unknown reasons.
Ironically, Aslanian was arrested in December 2021 just days after an opposition 
bloc led by him essentially won the last Vanadzor election with about 39 percent 
of the vote. Civil Contract finished second with 25 percent.
Aslanian went on trial earlier this month on corruption charges rejected by him 
as politically motivated.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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