Author: Karapet Navasardian

Republican lawmaker quits party, faction

Karapet Navasardian
| 16:53 | May 29 2018
Category
Politics

Republican Party (HHK) lawmaker Arthur Gevorgyan has quit the party and the HHK faction in the parliament.

“I don’t wanna see a fight between the political force constituting majority and the people’s movement. It is inappropriate, extremely dangerous. I am informing you that I am withdrawing from the Republican Party, and simultaneously from the HHK parliamentary faction.” Gevorgyan said on Facebook.

He says the purpose of stepping down is to contribute to de-escalating the tension in the parliament.

Arthur Gevorgyan is the current president of the country’s boxing federation.

A former boxer, Gevorgyan represented Armenia at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, where one of the highlights was a bout with Floyd Mayweather. Gevorgyan was defeated by Mayweather.

Previously he also served as head of Yerevan’s Davitashen district.

Gevorgyan is the son-in-law of former Police Chief Vladimir Gasparyan.

Process of building free and happy Armenia is irreversible – PM Pashinyan

Karapet Navasardian
Armenpress, Armenia

Process of building free and happy Armenia is irreversible – PM Pashinyan


YEREVAN, MAY 25, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan on May 25 participated in the session of the Board of Trustees of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund, the PM’s Office told Armenpress.

The PM delivered remarks at the session which says:

“Your Holiness,

Honorable President of the Republic of Armenia,

Honorable President of the Republic of Artsakh,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am happy for this opportunity and am happy to see you in the capital city Yerevan. Since its establishment the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund became a support to the newly-created Republic of Armenia. It played a really great role during the first years of our independence. The Fund also played a great role in the coming years, as, in my opinion, the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund became the indicator of the Diaspora’s trust towards the leadership of the Republic of Armenia. While analyzing the activity of the Fund one can get serious signals on what processes are taking place in the Diaspora, what concerns appear and what solutions can be to these concerns. The political processes, that occurred in Armenia in April-May, of course, have become a new signal of pan-national unity, and we should do everything and will do confidently to turn that unity signal into a concrete political result, a constant political factor. We have already announced the priorities of the Armenian government. The most important among these priorities is to maintain, continue and give constant nature to the feeling of victory of the citizens of Armenia and the Armenian people.

The key task of our country has been the inviolability of the right of the citizens to form a government, since I think that problems started to deepen in our country from the times when the public started broadly not to trust the election results and every time people felt themselves deceived by the election results. And therefore, our task is that from now on not only this or that political force should feel itself as victorious by any election results held in Armenia, but first of all the citizen of the Republic of Armenia must feel himself/herself victorious in case of any election result. And I want to state that the next key priority for our government is the fight against corruption, starting from election corruption up to public administration, judicial corruption. I want to inform that our government has already taken concrete steps on this path and recorded success. This process will continue until we all are convinced that we have eradicated the corruption as a systematic phenomenon in the Republic of Armenia. And finally, our most important conceptual task, ideological task is the formulation of Armenia’s, if it can be said, applicable significance as a state. In 1991 when the Republic of Armenia was founded and it seemed that everything was very good, I think we allowed an important conceptual gap. We didn’t clearly state why the Armenian people founded the Republic of Armenia as a state. I want to emphasize that the preface of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia has not underwent any change as a result of all Constitutional changes. In other words, the preface of the Constitution remained the same, the Armenian people, rather than the citizens of the Republic of Armenia, the citizens of the Soviet Armenia, act as the founders of the Republic of Armenia. Therefore, the beneficiaries of the Republic of Armenia are the Armenian people, and we should answer to an important question – why the Armenian people have created the Republic of Armenia? We are convinced that the Republic of Armenia has been created by the Armenian people for the following purpose: to concentrate Armenians’ human, financial, intellectual, scientific, economic, spiritual potential or most of it in their own territory and to ensure the security and normal development of that potential. We see the future development of the Republic of Armenia on this conceptual basis, and this conceptual base should guide us towards free and happy Armenia. We believe that the medium-term result of this process must be the following: the millennial wheel of the emigration of the Armenian people should eventually stop and turn back, and all Armenians should eventually start a great process to ensure concentrating in the Republic of Armenia, having the citizenship of the Republic of Armenia as an institute and the security and normal development of the Republic of Armenia and the Artsakh Republic. In other words, the Republic of Armenia should ensure the security and normal development of the Armenian people, the Armenian people should ensure the security and normal development of the Republic of Armenia.

And therefore, we are moving on this path, we are moving towards free and happy Armenia, and we are convinced that we have already put key cornerstones on the way to building this path. We are convinced that this process is irreversible, and that the Armenian people, the citizen of the Republic of Armenia have won on the path to this goal. This victory is irreversible and it will be continuous. Thank you”.

English –translator/editor: Aneta Harutyunyan

National consent government to be formed in Armenia – Pashinyan

Karapet Navasardian
ARKA, Armenia

YEREVAN, May 11. /ARKA/. David Tonoyan, acting emergency minister, will be appointed today as defense minister, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Friday. 

“The decree will be signed today, and other ministers will be appointed very soon,” he told journalists after the government’s meeting.

Earlier, on May 8, Vigen Sargsyan, acting defense minister, resigned. 

“The government will be formed on the basis of national consent principles,” Pashinyan said. 

On April 23, Serzh Sargsyan, who was appointed by the Armenian parliament as prime minister amid widespread disaffection for him, resigned under the pressure of mass protests against his premiership. On the same day, Armen Sarkissian, Armenian president accepted the government’s resignation. 

On May 8, the National Assembly elected Nikol Pashinyan as prime minister by a majority of votes – 59 MPs voted for him and 42 voted against him. –0—

US Government Employees Advised to Postpone Travel to Armenia Amid Protests – Embassy

Karapet Navasardian
Sputnik News Service
May 3, 2018 Thursday 5:34 PM UTC
US Government Employees Advised to Postpone Travel to Armenia Amid Protests – Embassy
 
 
WASHINGTON, May 3 (Sputnik) – US government employees should refrain from visiting Armenia or travel within the country in the wake of post-election demonstrations there, the US Embassy in Yerevan said in a travel advisory on Thursday.
 
“US government personnel are advised to avoid areas of demonstrations and postpone all unnecessary travel into or within Armenia due to the unpredictable road closures,” the advisory said.
 
On Tuesday, the Armenian parliament failed to elect opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan as interim prime minister because lawmakers failed to secure the majority 53 votes in the 105-seat chamber. Protesters disrupted traffic in Yerevan, blocking railways and roads leading to the international airport upon calls by Pashinyan to do so after the failed vote.
 
Armenia has been gripped by massive opposition protests since April 13. In Gyumri, the country’s second-largest city, protests escalated into a takeover of government buildings.
 
The protests continue in Armenia’s capital even though Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan gave to the opposition demands and resigned on Monday.
 
The US Embassy in Yerevan remains open and operates on regular schedule despite the road closures, the advisory said.

Armenian crisis worsens as opposition leader detained during protest

Karapet Navasardian
The Telegraph, UK
Armenian crisis worsens as opposition leader detained during protest 

Armenian opposition supporter shouts during a rally in central Yerevan  Credit: KAREN MINASYAN/AFP/Getty Images

  • Helen Nianias

• 12:37pm

Armenian police on Sunday detained an opposition MP after ten days of anti-government protests and accusations of a power grab levied against Serzh Sargsyan, the prime minister.

Nikol Pashinyan was picked up by officers at a demonstration in Yerevan on Sunday, following a televised interview between him and Mr Sargsyan, which the prime minister cut short.

Police said in a statement: “Despite repeated calls to stop illegal rallies, Pashinyan continued leading a demonstration”.  It added that he and two other opposition politicians “were forcibly taken from the site”.

The prosecutor general’s office said that Mr Pashinyan and the other two “were detained as they were committing socially dangerous acts”.

As an MP, Mr Pashinyan is protected by parliamentary immunity and cannot be arrested without the approval of lawmakers. His whereabouts is currently unclear.

His detention came on the tenth day of mass protests against Mr Sargsyan, who assumed the role of prime minister on April 17 after two five-year terms as president. 

<img class=”responsive article-body-image-image” src=””/content/dam/news/2018/04/22/TELEMMGLPICT000161152598_trans_NvBQzQNjv4Bqek9vKm18v_rkIPH9w2GMNoGXySPv9M1Jbe0Fc3Bi1Fk.jpeg?imwidth=480″” alt=”Armenia's anti-government protest leader Nikol Pashinyan met with Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian”>

Armenia’s anti-government protest leader Nikol Pashinyan met with Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian Credit: KAREN MINASYAN/AFP/Getty Images

In 2015, Mr Sargsyan tabled a controversial reform handing the main powers to the prime minister, a move that opposition supporters consider a power grab.

Mr Pashinyan challenged Mr Sargsyan to a debate at a hotel in Yerevan on Sunday, during which the prime minister said he was pleased the protest leader had “responded to my numerous appeals to negotiate”.

However, Mr Pashinyan replied that there had been a misunderstanding, adding that he only wanted to discuss the terms of the leader’s resignation and the “terms of a peaceful and smooth transition of power.”

“You don’t understand the situation in Armenia. The power is now in people’s hands,” he said.

Mr Sargsyan, Armenia’s former head of defence, stormed out of the interview, pointing out that Mr Pashinyan’s party only won eight per cent of the vote, and accusing him of “blackmail”.

At the rally, Mr Pashinyan urged police officers to “lay down arms and join in the protests” before riot police dispersed the crowd of thousands using stun grenades.

Journalists at the scene reported that dozens of protesters were also detained.

Demonstrators at the rally were protesting rampant corruption in Armenia’s judicial system, police, and education, as well as poverty.  

Since 2008, the poverty rate in Armenia has increased by two per cent to 29.8 per cent, according to World Bank figures.