Author: Jilavian Emma

TWO OPPOSITION MPs’ PROPOSALS INCLUDED IN LEGISLATIVE PACKAGE ON
MAKING AMENDMENTS AND ADDITIONS TO ELECTORAL CODE ADOPTED BY RA NA

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 22, NOYAN TAPAN. At the December 22 sitting, RA
NA with 78 votes in favor and 2 abstentions adopted the legislative
package on making amendments and additions to RA Electoral Code,
RA Criminal Code and law "On Local Self-Government." According to the
draft of RPA, ARFD, ULP factions, Business and People’s Deputy MP group
representatives, amendments and additions are made to more than 100
articles of the Electoral Code. Because of disagreements of principle,
Ardarutiun (Justice) faction members present at the sitting did not
take part in voting, with the exception of Aram Sargsian, Chairman
of the Democratic Party of Armenia who voted in favor. Hovhannes
Margarian, Orinats Yerkir (Country of Law) faction member, who withdrew
his signature the other day, also voted in favor. The above mentioned
MPs’ position was conditioned by inclusion of their proposals into
the draft. In particular, according to A.Sargsian’s proposal, passage
threshold of 5% and 7% working for parties and blocs, respectively,
at the parliamentary elections, was kept. The draft’s main variant
envisaged to use a differentiated threshold for blocs: 7% for blocs
composed of 2 parties, 10% for blocs composed of 3 and more parties.
On the basis of H.Margarian’s proposals, in particular, the right
of electoral commission member to vote as "abstained" was retored,
requirements on fixing additional electoral rolls at electoral
districts, stamps in identification cards of servicemen having
participated in voting for controlling elections amomg servicemen
were stipulated.

WEAKNESS OF GOVERNMENT OR CONTROVERSIES WITHIN GOVERNMENT?

Lragir, Armenia
Dec 22 2006

If the political assassinations started several months before the
election, one can only imagine what will be happening in the
pre-election period. It is possible, of course, that there will be no
more assassinations in that period not to arouse anger in the
international observers to give a bad evaluation of the election. The
pre-election period will be used to arrest the necessary people to
accuse of the murders committed before. After all, Robert Kocharyan
has already set the model which certain people use to instill
disbelief and divide within the team in power. The murders will be
presented in this context. That is why the Bargavach Hayastan Party
does not react adequately and publicly to the assassination of the
mayor it supported, that is why the investigation of the
assassination of Shahen Hovasapyan is not moving forward, at least
publicly.

All this is intended for pressure on undesirable forces and figures
in the pre-election period rather than for the PR of the work of law
enforcers. And nobody doubts the ingenuity and vigor of our judicial
system, and as a member of the Republican Council Gagik Melikyan said
on one occasion, in Armenia it is possible to bring charges on
anyone. There are a number of examples. It is even possible to find a
link between the murder of Julius Caesar with the process in 2007 in
Armenia and accuse someone proceeding from a statement made by him.

Let alone the value of the recent assassinations. However, we cannot
conclude that these murders are committed to manipulate later and
accuse certain people. It would be wrong to state absolutely that the
government hits friends to frighten foes, or sacrifices friends to
take revenge on foes. Simply we cannot afford not to conclude that
the government should use everything for its interests.

In this connection, it is becoming more interesting to know the real
reason of the assassinations. Ostensibly, it does not fit the frame
of the declared stability, consequently either they are revealing the
weakness of the government and want to make pressure on one wing of
power or another or they are the consequence of the controversies
within the government. If the first is possible, the murders will
ostensibly continue as long as any of the wings of the Armenian
government has not made real efforts to change the situation.

Ostensibly, this concerns especially the wing which is making
~Ssacrifices~T. If the controversies within the government are
concerned, ostensibly the situation is so tense that the mechanism of
arrangements fails, and they are trying to make it work through
physical threats.

Anyway, the current situation displays the critical state of Armenia,
when the actions are not only illogical but may also obey any logic.

The conclusion is one: tension has reached the boiling point.

HAKOB BADALYAN

AZERI LEADER SAYS ARMENIA TRYING TO BUY TIME IN KARABAKH TALKS

Turan News Agency, Azerbaijan
Dec 21 2006

Baku, 21 December: Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has urged
the Armenian leadership to take a constructive position in the
negotiations on the Karabakh settlement. Speaking at a session in
Naxcivan [Azerbaijan’s exclave] today, Aliyev called on Armenia
"to finally accept" the proposals of the OSCE Minsk Group and "not
to look for excuses trying to buy time".

Yerevan officials have been recently making "ridiculous" statements.

"Azerbaijan will never grant independence to Nagornyy Karabakh. Such
statements by officials are absolutely not true," Aliyev said.

The significance of Azerbaijan and Armenia for the world community
is not the same. Azerbaijan’s economy is six times bigger than that
of Armenia, and this difference will increase tenfold in the near
future. Azerbaijan’s state budget is six times bigger than the budget
of Armenia, and Azerbaijan’s military budget equals Armenia’s state
budget, Aliyev said.

Azerbaijan’s significance for Europe’s energy security is constantly
growing, which boosts the country’s military and political positions.

"For the time being Azerbaijan takes into consideration Armenia’s
interests, namely it is ready to grant autonomy to Nagornyy Karabakh.

But this might change in the future," Aliyev said and urged Yerevan
to draw the "right" conclusion and take a constructive approach.

"[Armenia] should not refer to parliamentary elections and make a fool
of themselves. The OSCE, EU, Council of Europe, the USA, France and
others have unequivocally condemned the illegal referendum in Nagornyy
Karabakh. Azerbaijan’s purposeful policies are yielding results,
and we will achieve a fair solution to the problem," Aliyev said.

SPECIAL NA SESSION CONVENED ON RA GOVERNMENT’S INITIATIVE OPENS

Noyan Tapan
Dec 20 2006

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 20, NOYAN TAPAN. Special NA session convened on the
initiative of RA government opened on December 20. At the beginning
of the sitting the MPs stood in silence for one minute to respect
the memory of RPA member, member of People’s Deputy MP group, Yerem
Karapetian, who passed away some days ago. In addition to other issues,
the bill "On RA National Anthem" in second reading, the legislative
package on making amendments and additions to the Electoral Code,
as well as the draft RA Judicial Code in first reading are on the
session agenda. A number of MPs, including Chairman of NA Standing
Committee on State and Legal Issues, Rafik Petrosian proposed the
government withdrawing the draft RA Judicial Code from the agenda and
discussing it in the future at NA plenary sittings. The MPs motivated
this proposal by the circumstance that the draft is a large-scale and
needs to be discussed thoroughly in advance at the profile, Standing
Committee on State and Legal Issues. NA adopted through voting more
than ten laws and legislative packages discussed at the last regular
sittings of the autumn session. Adoption in first reading of the bill
"On Approval of Annual Statement for 2005 on Fulfilment of "State
Property Privatization Program of 2001-2003", of the legislative
package on making amendments and additions to the law "On Street
Traffic Security" and adoption of the bill on making amendments and
additions to the law "On Local Self-Government" in second reading
failed due to lack of quorum.

A FEW WORDS ABOUT REFERENDUM
By Aghavni Harutyunian

AZG Armenian Daily
21/12/2006

Commenting on the recent constitutional referendum in Nagorno-Karabakh,
Foreign Minister of Armenia Vartan Oskanian said that attempts not
to recognize the referendum’s results can still be understood, but
statements that the referendum hampers the peace process are quite
unacceptable. To his opinion the referendum has even contributed the
peace process. Mr. Oskanian said that the international structures
should have rather supported the initiative of the people of Karabakh,
thus preventing Azerbaijan from speculations and complicating the
negotiation process. He expressed confidence that very soon the results
of the referendum will be commonly accepted de facto. He said that
the attitude of the West to the referendum is already being changed
to more positive. The Foreign Minister said that the only objection
to the referendum is that it actually pre-determines the results of
the negotiations by proclaiming Nagorno-Karabakh an independent and
sovereign republic.

VARDAN OSKANYAN WILL DECIDE AFTER THE HOLIDAY

Lragir, Armenia
Dec 19 2006

The Armenian foreign minister’s statement made earlier that a minister
should not remain in office for more than a decade does not mean
that the foreign minister is likely to quit politics. Vardan Oskanyan
personally stated this December 19 at the Friday Club. He explained
what he had meant in speaking about his intention to quit office.

"It was a natural reaction, when a new president is elected, a new
president would like to have his foreign minister. I think this is
natural. I meant this when I made this statement. There were different
interpretations that Oskanyan is reluctant, he is tired of politics,
he wants to quit," Vardan Oskanyan says.

He thinks that he has much to do in Armenia, therefore he will try
to remain in politics. "I will try to remain in politics, because
sometimes the wish and the reality are different. My wish is to remain
in politics, to make my contribution, and time will show if I will
stay in politics," Vardan Oskanyan says.

Considering that President Robert Kocharyan mentioned the possible
political parties on December 15 who will be forming government,
namely the Republican Party, the ARF Dashnaktsutyun, the United Labor
Party and Bargavach Hayastan, the news reporters asked if the foreign
minister will affiliate with one of these four political parties in
the new year to remain in politics. "I find it difficult to say. I
haven’t got any offers from these political parties, and I have not
made any requests either. I am not considering this question yet. I
need time to think. After the holidays, when the political sphere
becomes more clear, it will be possible to decide how to continue
activities in the political sphere," Vardan Oskanyan says.

EVERYONE WILL SOON FORGET ABOUT KARABAKH CONSTITUTION

Lragir, Armenia
Dec 19 2006

Necessity for a constitution arose in Karabakh because over these
years the people of Karabakh have established a legal and institutional
sphere which needed to be concluded by a constitution.

Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan expressed this opinion in
a news conference on December 19 at the Friday Club. He stated that
the reaction of the international organizations to the referendum is
unacceptable. According to the minister, it was not so surprising
that they reject the referendum, but it was surprising that these
statements were so hard. However, comments by the same officials of
European organizations came right away to correct the statements.

Vardan Oskanyan says he believes that the Constitution will not have
a negative impact on the settlement of the conflict over Karabakh.

"It is a period when the referendum has just been held, and there
were statements, comments, opinions are expressed, but soon, I think,
the question will be accepted as a fact, and we will move on. In the
long run, the stronger the legal, institutional and economic basis of
Nagorno Karabakh is, the more useful it will be for the settlement,"
Vardan Oskanyan says.

He also says that unlike the presidential and parliamentary elections
in Karabakh, the reaction of the international organizations has
changed essentially after the referendum on constitution. They used
to stress separate principles, now they are being more cautious,
because now the principle of self-determination is underlying the
talks, says the foreign minister of Armenia.

He considers strengthening legal, economic and institutional basis
of the republic of Karabakh as a factor facilitating the settlement,
which will establish facts that Azerbaijan will have to accept. The
more confident the NKR people and government feel, "the easier it will
be to reach a settlement through compromise," thinks the Armenians
foreign minister.

COURT STARTS EXAMINATION OF FALSE INFORMATION CASE REVEALED DURING INVESTIGATION OF SHAHEN HOVASAPIAN’S MURDER CASE

Noyan Tapan
Dec 19 2006

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 19, NOYAN TAPAN. The court of first instance
of Yerevan’s Kentron and Nork-Marash communities on December 18
started examining the case of false information revealed during the
investigation of the case of killing Shahen Hovasapins, the head of
the operative-investigative department of the State Tax Service. The
accused – the officer of the RA Police Davtashen Unit Gevorg Gevorgian
and the deputy head of the Bagratashen crossing point Artavazd Melikian
denied chargers against them. According to the case materials, having
agreed beforehand with A. Melikian, G. Gevorgain (with the aim of
taking revenge) sent an anonymous letter, in which he accused the
aggrieved parties Sahak Arsenian and Zhirayr Hayrapetian of killing
Sh. Hovasapian. According to the testimonies of witnesses and aggrieved
parties, the motive for taking revenge was that G. Gevorgain suspected
that S. Arsenian told his girlfriend about his being married, while
Zh. Hayrapetian dated her. This prompted G. Gevorgain to "take
measures" by sending false information about these two persons. 3
witnesses were questioned at the court sitting, including the two
girlfriends involved in the love affairs, and the two aggrieved
parties. The court decidedd that the other aggrived parties and
the accused will be questioned, after which the main evidence will
be examined.

ARMENIAN PARTICIPANT OF EUROVISION-2007 CONTEST TO BE DETERMINED ON BASIS OF SMSs SENT BY TV VIEWERS

Noyan Tapan
Dec 18 2006

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 18, NOYAN TAPAN. 30 bids have been already received
for participation in the Eurovision-2007 contest. As Hrach Keshishian,
producer of the Public Television of Armenia, said at the December
18 press conference, not only singers creating in Armenia, but
also beginning Armenian singers living in various colonies of the
Diaspora have expressed willingness to take part in the contest. In
H.Keshishian’s words, public hearings will be held by the Public
Television from 2007 January 15 to February 15 and the singer to
represent Armenia at the Eurovision-2007 will be determined on the
basis of TV viewers’ SMSs.

PanARMENIAN.Net

Expansion of Armenia-NATO Interaction within IPAP Complements CSTO
15.12.2006 15:45 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Judging from the statements by some high rank
officials of the RA government Armenia is not afraid of NATO.
Armenia’s membership in the CSTO is not a barrier, head of the center
of Caucasian Studies at the Moscow State Institute of International
Relations (MGIMO) Vladimir Zakharov said in an interview with
PanARMENIAN.Net. `The CSTO regulations do not restrict the cooperation
with other international structures. Moreover, on a number of issues
the CSTO and NATO experience common problems and the cooperation of
these two structures and separate states create extra guarantees in
the South Caucasus,’ he remarked.

According to him, Armenia’s participation in the IPAP supposes
conduction of periodical consultations with NATO on regional security,
elaboration of the strategy and military doctrine, perfection of the
defense and budget planning and other issues. `As a matter of fact,
interaction within the CSTO and bilateral cooperation with Russia do
not completely ensure Armenia’s security against the challenges of the
21st century and expansion of interaction with NATO within the IPAP
complements the absent links,’ Zakharov underscored.