Author: Jagharian Tania

                                        Monday, 
Pashinian’s Party Wins, Loses Local Elections
Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and acting Mayor Diana Gasparian (L) 
attend a festival in Echmiadzin, 7 October 2018.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s Civil Contract party won mayoral elections in 
at least two major Armenian towns but was defeated in another at the weekend.
Voters in nearly 50 communities across Armenia went to the polls on Sunday to 
elect their chief executives or local councils. As was the case in the 
September 23 municipal elections in Yerevan, the polls were marked by a lack of 
serious fraud reported by election candidates, observers and media.
In the largest of those communities -- the towns of Armavir, Echmiadzin, 
Hrazdan and Kapan -- the elections were held because their former mayors 
resigned shortly after Pashinian swept to power in May in what is known as a 
democratic “velvet revolution.” They were affiliated or linked with former 
President Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party (HHK).
In Echmiadzin, official vote results gave victory to Civil Contract’s Diana 
Gasparian, the acting mayor appointed by Pashinian’s government in June. 
Gasparian, 30, was challenged by 11 other contenders. She is the first female 
head of an Armenian urban community elected since the early 1990s.
Another Civil Contract candidate, Davit Khudatian, prevailed in the mayoral 
race in Armavir. The town located about 50 kilometers west of Yerevan is the 
administrative center of the Armavir province encompassing Echmiadzin.
The snap election in another provincial capital, Hrazdan, was won by a 
25-year-old son of Sasun Mikaelian, a prominent Hrazdan-based politician and a 
leading member of Civil Contract. The party leadership pointedly declined to 
back Sevak Mikaelian for still unclear reasons, however.
Pashinian’s party suffered a setback in Kapan, the capital of the southeastern 
Syunik province bordering Iran. Its candidate, Narek Babayan, was defeated by a 
non-partisan challenger.
Pashinian personally campaigned for Babayan, holding a rally in Kapan on Friday.
The Armenian prime minister put a brave face on the setback on Monday. While 
saying that he is “very sorry” for Babayan’s defeat, he portrayed the election 
outcome as a triumph of democracy.
“It’s an unprecedented phenomenon [for Armenia] when the country’s prime 
minister backs a candidate and that candidate doesn’t win an election. This is 
the greatest victory for democracy in the history of the Third [Armenian] 
Republic,” Pashinian declared in a trademark video address to the nation aired 
on Facebook.
“Citizens made a decision and the government didn’t even attempt to place the 
citizens’ choice into the bounds of its wishes. Dear people, this is what we 
did the revolution for,” he said.
The former ruling HHK had for years swept most local elections in Armenia, 
heavily relying on its administrative and financial resources. Sarkisian’s 
party has essentially refrained from contesting such polls since losing power.
According to Pashinian, Civil Contract nominated or endorsed candidates in 15 
communities and only two of them lost in Sunday’s elections.
Armenian Parliament Fails To Pass Key Election Bill
        • Sisak Gabrielian
Armenia - The National Assembly debates amendments to the Electoral Code 
drafted by the government, Yerevan, .
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian accused Armenia’s outgoing parliament of 
“sabotage” on Monday after it voted down major amendments to the Electoral Code 
drafted by his government for snap general elections expected in December.
The amendments formally approved by the government on October 16 are aimed at 
facilitating the proper conduct of the elections. They would, among other 
things, change the existing legal mechanism for distributing seats in the 
National Assembly which many believe favored Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party 
(HHK) in the last parliamentary elections held in April 2017.
Under Armenia’s constitution, any amendment to the Electoral Code must be 
backed by at least 63 members of the 105-member parliament. Only 56 lawmakers 
voted for the government bill.
Pashinian was quick to accuse the parliament majority of “sabotaging” the work 
of his cabinet. “They hope that in this way they will manage to turn the fresh 
parliamentary elections into an instrument for revanche,” he said. “But I want 
to make clear that even if the elections are held under the existing Electoral 
Code that will not change anything because the victory of the people is 
inevitable and cannot be stolen by anyone.”
“There will be no return to the past,” Pashinian added, urging supporters to 
get ready for “completing regime change” in Armenia.
The bill was essentially blocked by the HHK, which still has the largest 
parliamentary faction.
The former ruling party officially voiced its opposition to the proposed 
changes in a statement released earlier in the day. It said that they were 
submitted to the parliament at a very short notice and that the lawmakers 
therefore did not have enough time to look into them.
The HHK also accused the government of ignoring a number of alternative 
proposals that were jointly made by the four political forces represented in 
the current National Assembly.
The HHK’s stance was denounced by other parliamentary forces. Naira Zohrabian, 
a top representative of Gagik Tsarukian’s Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK), 
called it an act of “political sabotage.”
The HHK’s deputy chairman, Armen Ashotian, remained unrepentant, however, 
saying that the electoral system must not be changed less than two months 
before the anticipated elections. “It is simply absurd to build democracy in 
the country with undemocratic methods,” Ashotian told reporters.
In the 2017 elections, Armenians voted for not only parties and blocs as a 
whole but also their individual candidates running in a dozen nationwide 
constituencies. The individual races greatly helped the HHK to score a 
landslide victory at the time. Wealthy HHK candidates relied heavily on their 
financial resources and government connections to earn both themselves and 
their party many votes.
The bill put forward by Pashinian’s government also envisages safeguards 
against vote rigging and other major changes such as a lower vote threshold for 
winning seats in the parliament.
Gianni Buquicchio, the president of the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission, 
said on Friday that the draft amendments “pursue legitimate aims and seem 
mostly positive.” In a statement, he also noted “the specific situation in 
Armenia, which requires the holding of early elections.”
Buquicchio said at the same time that the commission still has “reservations” 
about the proposed change of the electoral system. He stressed, though, that 
“these reservations are less relevant if there is consensus among political 
forces about the change.”
The government is allowed to reintroduce the bill to the parliament and force 
another urgent debate on it in the coming days. Pashinian did not say whether 
the government will do so.
Trump Lawyer Giuliani Visits Armenia
        • Sargis Harutyunyan
Armenia - Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan (R) meets with former New York Mayor 
Rudy Giuliani in Yerevan, .
U.S. President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani met with Armenia’s 
Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan and visited the Armenian genocide memorial in 
Yerevan on Monday during what he described as a private trip to the country.
Giuliani, who served as mayor of New York City from 1994-2001, was invited by 
Ara Abrahamian, a pro-Kremlin leader of the Armenian community in Russia, to 
take part in an international forum in the Armenian capital organized by the 
Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), a Russian-led trade bloc.
Giuliani was accompanied by Abrahamian when he visited the Tsitsernakabert 
memorial to pay his respects to some 1.5 million Armenians massacred by the 
Ottoman Turks during the First World War.
As New York mayor, he had repeatedly issued statements recognizing the genocide 
and attended commemorations of the genocide victims organized by 
Armenian-American advocacy groups.
Speaking to RFE/RL’s Armenian service at Tsitsernakabert, Giuliani was asked 
whether he believes Trump should also publicly describe the 1915 mass killings 
as genocide. “I certainly recognize it,” he replied. “I think it’s a historical 
fact. But I’m not here in my capacity as a private lawyer for President Trump. 
I’m here as a private citizen.”
“So it’s up to the administration to make its own conclusion about that,” he 
added.
Like his predecessors, Trump avoided using the word genocide in his statements 
issued for the annual April 24 commemorations of genocide anniversary in the 
United States. He spoke instead of “one of the worst mass atrocities of the 
20th century.”
Giuliani was also careful not to comment on U.S.-Armenian relations, saying 
that “it’s up to the two governments” to develop them. “Again, I’m here as a 
private citizen just to learn some facts in my first time in Armenia,” he said. 
“I know the Armenian community in America well but this is my first time here.”
Giuliani met with Tonoyan later in the day. A statement by the Armenian Defense 
Ministry said the minister briefed him on “the security environment around 
Armenia.” The two men also “exchanged views on a number of regional and 
international issues,” added the statement.
Giuliani, 74, is known for his hawkish views on America’s relations with Iran, 
a key neighbor of Armenia. He has strongly supported Trump’s controversial 
decision to pull out of an international deal on Iran’s nuclear program and to 
re-impose economic sanctions on Tehran.
Like the other world powers that signed it -- France, Germany, Britain, Russia 
and China -- Armenia continues to support the 2015 deal. It has made clear that 
it will press ahead with joint economic projects with the Islamic Republic.
Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, is due to arrive in Yerevan 
later this week as part of a tour of Russia and the three South Caucasus states.
Press Review
(Saturday, October 20)
“Hraparak” reports that the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe gave on 
Friday a cautious but mostly positive assessment of amendments to the Electoral 
Code drafted by the Armenian government. The paper says the commission stated 
that its reservations will not really matter if Armenian parliamentary forces 
reach a consensus on the entire legislative package.
“Aravot” says that the Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) will take a “risky 
step” if it does decide to participate in the upcoming parliamentary elections. 
“It can be said for certain that this party would not win seats in the 
parliament,” editorializes the paper. It says the HHK’s participation would 
also have a negative impact on “the whole atmosphere of the election campaign.” 
In that case, it says, Nikol Pashinian’s party and other all contenders would 
spend most of their time lambasting the HHK and Sarkisian.
“Zhamanak” says that Pashinian will likely meet with local leaders of the 
Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) during his upcoming visit to 
Lebanon. The paper expects Pashinian to discuss with them their party’s 
activities in Armenia.
“Business expects real work from the government,” reads a headline in “168 
Zham.” “The economy has stopped because there is no economic policy and there 
is no vision as to where we are headed,” writes the paper. It says that 
Pashinian’s government is hampering economic growth with its “crude” tax 
evasion and other crackdowns on businesspeople. “There is hardly any major 
business that has not been inspected and made a subject of public vendettas for 
slighter violations in the past several months. The fact is that business is 
definitely not looking forward to the parliamentary elections … Business is 
waiting to see when this theater will end so that it can operate in normal 
conditions and develop the country.”
(Tatev Danielian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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