Author: Mary Lazarian

                                        Monday, 

Ter-Petrosian’s Party Urges End To Parliamentary Republic

        • Ruzanna Stepanian

Armenia - Former President Levon Ter-Petrosian addresses a convention of his 
Armenian National Congress (HAK) in Yerevan, 17Dec2016.

Former President Levon Ter-Petrosian’s Armenian National Congress (HAK) has 
urged Armenia’s leadership to reverse the country’s transition to a 
parliamentary system of government which was completed less than a year ago.

In a weekend statement, the party called for a referendum on restoring the 
previous, “semi-presidential” system which gave sweeping executive powers to 
the president of the republic. It said the referendum should be held by 
February 2020 and followed by the conduct of a presidential election within a 
year.

The HAK did not explain why it believes that Armenia should no longer be a 
parliamentary republic. Its lengthy statement specified instead political and 
economic reforms which should be implemented in the country.

The HAK is not represented in the Armenian parliament. It fared poorly in the 
April 2017 parliamentary elections and chose not to participate in the snap 
elections held in December 2018.

Ter-Petrosian’s party and other opposition forces strongly opposed a 2015 
constitutional reform that turned Armenia into a parliamentary republic led by 
a prime minister. They argued that the reform is part of then President Serzh 
Sarkisian’s plans to stay in power after completing his second and final term.

Sarkisian provoked mass protests and was forced to resign when he attempted to 
extend his decade-long rule in April 2018. The protest leader, Nikol Pashinian, 
became prime minister in May.

A senior member of Pashinian’s My Step alliance, Lena Nazarian, said on Monday 
that the current authorities are ready in principle to discuss the HAK 
proposal. “Constitutional reforms are on our agenda but we have not yet held 
discussions on the government system and at the opportune moment we will 
discuss that proposal as well,” she said.

But Edmon Marukian, the leader of the Bright Armenia Party (LHK) rejected the 
HAK’s idea, saying that it acceptance would mean serious political “regress” 
for Armenia.

Marukian said that the parliamentary system is much more suited for democratic 
governance and that Armenian political forces should therefore strive to 
strengthen it by curbing some of the prime minister’s powers.

A senior representative of Prosperous Armenia (BHK), the other opposition 
represented in the current parliament, reacted more cautiously to the HAK 
statement. Mikael Melkumian said the BHK has not discussed it.

The “semi-presidential” system was introduced in 1995 when Ter-Petrosian served 
as Armenia’s president. His critics said at the time that it gave him 
disproportionate powers at the expense of the legislative and even judicial 
branches of government.


Tonoyan Gives More Details Of Russian-Armenian Fighter Jet Deal


Syria -- A Russian Sukhoi SU-30 fighter aircraft drops bombs in the air over 
Syria, October 15, 2015

Armenia wants to buy a total of 12 multirole fighter jets from Russia and will 
likely receive four of them within a year, Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan said 
on Monday.

The Armenian Defense Ministry confirmed earlier this month the signing of a 
Russian-Armenian contract on the delivery of four Sukhoi Su-30SM jets to the 
South Caucasus country’s Armed Forces. Tonoyan said last week that Yerevan will 
seek to acquire more such aircraft.

“We are continuing to negotiate on the delivery of the next batch of Su-30SMs,” 
Tonoyan told the RIA Novosti news agency during a visit to the United Arab 
Emirates. “Everything will depend on how quickly these products will be 
manufactured. There are some issues with import substitution [by Russia] and so 
on.”

“We are planning to get the first batch this year or the beginning of next year 
at the latest,” he said, adding that the Armenian military’s objective is to 
have a full squadron consisting of 12 of Russian-made warplanes.

Su-30SM is a modernized version of a heavy fighter jet developed by the Sukhoi 
company in the late 1980s. The Russian military commissioned the first batch of 
such aircraft in 2012.

Financial details of the fighter jet deal remain unknown. The Russian newspaper 
“Kommersant” reported on February 1 that the Armenian government will use a 
Russian loan to buy the sophisticated jets at a discounted price. It did not 
specify their total price.

Russia lent Armenia $200 million for arms acquisitions in 2015. The weapons 
delivered to the Armenian military under that deal include, among other things, 
multiple-launch rocket systems, anti-tank rockets, shoulder-fired 
surface-to-air missiles, and army radios.

Yerevan secured another Russian loan, worth $100 million, for further arms 
acquisitions in 2017. It is still not clear what types of Russian military 
hardware will be purchased with that loan.

According to RIA Novosti, Tonoyan did not rule out the possibility of a third 
Russian government loan to Yerevan. The minister cautioned that it is “too 
early to talk about” the types of weaponry which would be bought with it.


Kocharian’s Son Also Indicted

        • Nane Sahakian

Armenia - Sedrak Kocharian, the elder son of former President Robert Kocharian.

The elder son of Robert Kocharian, a former Armenian president arrested in 
December, has been charged with tax evasion and money laundering, it emerged on 
Monday.

Sedrak Kocharian revealed the accusations brought by the National Security 
Service (NSS) in comments made to a website reputedly linked to his father. One 
of the ex-president’s lawyers, Aram Orbelian, confirmed the information but did 
not give details of the criminal case.

The NSS has not yet commented on the development.

The head of the powerful security agency, Artur Vanetsian, said in September 
that it is scrutinizing what he described as hundreds of millions of dollars 
worth of assets belonging to Kocharian and his family members. Vanetsian 
claimed that they had acquired a hotel in Yerevan through a fraudulent scheme.

Sedrak Kocharian responded by filing a defamation suit against Vanetsian. The 
NSS subsequently questioned him as a witness in its corruption investigation.

Kocharian Jr. told 2rd.am that he has signed a pledge not to leave the country 
until the inquiry is over. He rejected the accusations as “fabricated.”

“What is happening does not quite surprise me,” he said. “[Prime Minister] 
Nikol Pashinian has long been fixated on our family, ever since his 
journalistic activities.”

Echoing statements by his father, Sedrak Kocharian also blamed Pashinian for 
the 2008 post-election violence in Yerevan which left ten people dead.

Robert Kocharian is prosecuted on charges stemming from that unrest. He is 
accused by another law-enforcement body of illegally using Armenian army units 
against opposition supporters who protested against alleged vote rigging.

The 64-year-old ex-president, who ruled the country from 1998-2008, rejects the 
charges as politically motivated. He has also denied enriching himself or his 
family while in office. He has only admitted that his two sons are engaged in 
entrepreneurial activity.




Ousted Village Chiefs Reelected

        • Marine Khachatrian
        • Gayane Saribekian

Armenia -- People in Urtsadzor rally to demand the resignation of the village 
mayor, Rafik Andreasian, September 28, 2018.

The former mayors of two Armenian villages have been reelected just months 
after resigning under pressure from angry local residents.

The villages located in the southern Armavir and Ararat provinces were among 24 
mostly rural communities in various parts of Armenia where voters elected the 
heads of local administration or councils on Sunday.

Most of those local races were tightly contested despite a lack of interest 
shown by political parties, including Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s Civil 
Contract.

The ruling party decided not to endorse any of the election candidates, even 
though seven of them are affiliated with it. Some of those Civil Contract 
members were defeated.

As was the case during other elections held after last spring’s “velvet 
revolution” in the country, there were virtually no reports of serious fraud in 
the local polls. Armenia’s Investigative Committee said it has received no 
election-related information that warrants an inquiry.

Minister for Local Government Suren Papikian praised the conduct of the polls 
when he spoke to RFE/RL’s Armenian service on Monday.

“The government’s role is to ensure equal conditions for everyone and prevent 
any [election-related] violations or abuses,” said Papikian. “We have 
accomplished that task. Residents of those communities themselves decided who 
should head their communities.”

“Nobody can claim that the authorities helped this or that candidate or used 
administrative resources,” he said.


Armenia -- Minister for Local Government Suren Papikian, June 4, 2018.
Papikian complained, though, that many people in those communities preferred 
their “clan-based and family” interests to the intellectual and other merits of 
candidates. “Many people with a higher level of education got much fewer votes 
[than other candidates,]” he said. “Nobody took note of their programs.”

The two villages, Vartashen and Urtsadzor, were long run by individuals 
supporting the former Armenian government. Hundreds of local residents forced 
the mayors to step down in October and November after a series of protests that 
were clearly inspired by the “velvet revolution.” Both men managed to win the 
weekend elections and regain their posts.

In Vartashen, some residents gathered on Monday to protest against Artur 
Manukian, the reelected mayor who remains affiliated with former President 
Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party.

There were also allegations of foul play made by Vahan Zareyan, a Civil 
Contract member who was defeated in a mayoral election held in Vartenis, a 
small town in the Gegharkunik province. Zareyan and his supporters claimed that 
the election winner was unfairly helped by the provincial governor, Gnel 
Sanosian.

Papikian dismissed the complaints, insisting that the election outcomes in 
Vartenis and the other communities are legitimate. People unhappy with them 
should simply “reckon with the reality” and at the same time “put the 
activities of every community head under a microscope,” added the minister 
overseeing local government bodies.


Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2019 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
www.rferl.org

                                        Tuesday, 

Pashinian Decries ‘Media Campaign Against Government’


Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian addresses supporters through Facebook, 
.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian accused Armenian media on Tuesday of 
systematically trying to discredit him and his government at the behest of the 
country’s former leaders.

Pashinian claimed that many media outlets are keen to make Armenians believe 
that the current authorities are no different from former President Serzh 
Sarkisian’s “corrupt” administration and Republican Party (HHK). He seemed to 
blame Sarkisian and another former president, Robert Kocharian, for the 
“propaganda campaign waged against my family and my political team.”

“Ninety percent of the media scene [in Armenia] is controlled either by the two 
entities representing the former authorities or [other] forces opposed to us … 
Most media outlets controlled by forces opposed to us are in the hands of 
representatives of the former regime,” Pashinian said in a live Facebook 
transmission.

“Why is this important?” he went on. “For the simple reason that the following 
process is now underway in the media scene: representatives of the former 
regime … are trying to ‘republicanize’ our government and say that there is no 
difference, that this government is the same as the Republican one was.”

Pashinian insisted that his government is fundamentally different from the 
previous authorities first and foremost because it “does not plunder the people 
and the state.” “This is the kind of change which we had dreamed about for many 
years,” he said.

The prime minister did not name any media outlets involved in the alleged smear 
campaign. He said only that they frequently show his, his family members’ and 
political allies’ private lives in a bad light.

On Sunday, Pashinian took to Facebook to lambaste a scathing newspaper report 
about a restaurant dinner organized by him for around 90 newly elected members 
of Armenia’s parliament representing his My Step alliance.

“Hraparak,” a Yerevan daily critical of both the current and former 
governments, drew parallels between the My Step get-together and Republican 
leaders’ notorious love of lavish parties.

Pashinian charged that the paper is “nostalgic about the corrupt Republican 
regime.” The “Hraparak” editor, Armine Ohanian, dismissed the criticism.



Ohanian Denies Coup Charges


Armenia - Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian (R) and chief of the Armenian army 
staff, General Yuri Khachaturov, at a meeting in Yerevan, 28May2015.

Former Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian on Tuesday angrily denied coup charges 
brought against him as part of a criminal investigation into the 2008 
post-election unrest in Armenia.

Ohanian also deplored the same accusations of “overthrow of the constitutional 
order” that have been leveled against two other retired army generals, Mikael 
Harutiunian and Yuri Khachaturov, as well as former President Robert Kocharian.

Armenia’s Special Investigative Service (SIS) claims that the four men 
illegally used the armed forces against opposition supporters who demonstrated 
in Yerevan against alleged electoral fraud. It says Kocharian ordered troops 
into the Armenian capital before declaring a state of emergency late on March 
1, 2008 amid deadly clashes between security forces and opposition protesters. 
Eight protesters and two police servicemen died in what was the worst street 
violence in the country’s history.

Harutiunian, who now lives in Russia, served as defense minister while Ohanian 
was the chief of the Armenian army’s General Staff at the time. The latter 
replaced Harutiunian as defense minister in April 2008.

Ohanian rejected the accusations as “baseless.” “Justice cannot be administered 
on order or under the influence of the street,” he wrote on Facebook.

The former minister also posted audio of this summer’s secretly recorded phone 
conversations between the SIS chief, Sasun Khachatrian, and Artur Vanetsian, 
the National Security Service (NSS) director. He said it shows that the ongoing 
investigation is not objective and fair.

In that audio, Vanetsian can be heard saying that he told a Yerevan judge to 
sanction Kocharian’s arrest in July. The NSS chief claims that it was doctored 
and that he never put pressure on the judge.

Ohanian also said that on December 20 law-enforcement authorities “illegally” 
restricted his freedom of movement without any explanation. He did not specify 
whether they prevented him from leaving the country.

“Do those trampling the constitution under foot have a right to administer 
justice against the colonel-generals, the [former] president and others who 
have made considerable contributions to the security of Armenia and Artsakh 
(Nagorno-Karabakh)?” said Ohanian.

The Karabakh-born general challenged Armenia’s former government after being 
sacked as defense minister in October 2016. He teamed up with two opposition 
politicians, Vartan Oskanian and Raffi Hovannisian, to run in parliamentary 
elections held in April 2017. Their ORO bloc failed to win any seats in 
Armenia’s parliament.

Unlike Kocharian, Ohanian and Khachaturov have not been placed under pre-trial 
arrest.



Parliament Majority Denounced For Backing Tsarukian Ally

        • Astghik Bedevian
        • Tatevik Lazarian

Armenia -- Newly elected speaker Ararat Mirzoyan (second from left) and his 
deputies Vahe Enfiajian (right), Alen Simonian (second from right) and Lena 
Nazarian at a parliament session in Yerevan, .

The opposition Bright Armenia party condemned the pro-government majority in 
the National Assembly on Tuesday for not electing one of its leaders as a 
deputy speaker of the parliament.

Deputies representing Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s My Step alliance voted 
instead for a senior lawmaker from businessman Gagik Tsarukian’s Prosperous 
Armenia Party (BHK).

The Armenian constitution reserves one of the three posts of vice-speaker for a 
representative of the parliamentary opposition. Pashinian and his associates 
made clear last week that My Step will back the BHK candidate for the post, 
Vahe Enfiajian. They argued that the BHK is the second largest parliamentary 
force that controls 26 seats in the 132-member legislature, compared with 18 
seats held by Bright Armenia.

Bright Armenia leaders dismissed that explanation, saying that the constitution 
says nothing about the size of an opposition faction nominating a vice-speaker. 
They hoped that many My Step deputies will back their party’s candidate, Mane 
Tandilian, in Tuesday’s parliament vote.

The parliament majority remained unconvinced, however. Speaker Ararat Mirzoyan 
said it will “respect” the results of the December 9 parliamentary elections in 
which the BHK finished a distant second.

Accordingly, only 19 parliamentarians voted for Tandilian, who served as labor 
minister in Pashinian’s cabinet until last month. The BHK’s Enfiajian was 
elected vice-speaker with 108 votes.

Edmon Marukian, Bright Armenia’s top leader described the vote results as 
“disgraceful.”


Armenia - Mane Tandilian (C) and other election candidates of the Bright 
Armenia party campaign in Yerevan, November 26, 2018.

Also, Marukian hit out at the BHK during a debate that preceded the vote, 
prompting Tsarukian’s first-ever speech on the parliament floor.

“As long as we are not insulted or attacked we won’t say anything to anyone. 
But if someone tries to insult us I will respond to that with documents and 
video materials,” said the BHK leader.

Bright Armenia and the BHK traded bitter accusations following the December 
elections. In particular, Marukian said that Tsarukian should leave the 
political arena because of his extensive business interests. The tycoon has 
held a parliament seat for nearly 16 years but has rarely attended parliament 
sessions.

The two other newly elected vice-speakers, Lena Nazarian and Alen Simonian, are 
senior members of Pashinian’s bloc who actively participated in last spring’s 
“velvet revolution.”

Despite the controversy, the three factions reached consensus on who will chair 
the new parliament’s 11 standing committees. Mirzoyan announced that eight of 
them, including the committees on foreign relations, defense and economy, will 
be headed by My Step lawmakers.

BHK representatives will run two other panels, while the remaining post of 
committee chairperson was given to Bright Armenia.



Press Review



“Zhamanak” suggests that President Armen Sarkissian’s welcoming address to the 
new National Assembly was the most “memorable” episode of its inaugural session 
held on Monday. “What is more, Sarkissian set a high political bar for the work 
of the parliament with which one could measure the extent of the political 
content and the capacity of the parliament,” writes the paper. It also singles 
out Sarkissian’s remark that Armenians are a “global nation” despite the small 
size of their state.

“Many have started discussing personal merits and shortcomings of the National 
Assembly speaker and his deputies but that is a secondary issue,” writes 
“Aravot.” “It doesn’t matter who was elected speaker of the National Assembly. 
What matters is that the parliament speaker, let along the deputy speakers, 
have long stopped deciding anything. Public expectations are not from [speaker] 
Ararat Mirzoyan or [his deputy] Vahe Enfiajian or any minister or regional 
governor but only from Nikol Pashinian. And the majority of our citizens expect 
that the prime minister will make some miracles within several months.” The 
paper believes that opposition parties and civic groups could and should strive 
to change these public attitudes.

“Zhoghovurd” reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin was quick to 
congratulate Pashinian on being reappointed as prime minister on Monday. The 
paper says this fact is “noteworthy” given Putin’s failure to congratulate 
Pashinian on his My Step bloc’s victory in the December 9 parliamentary 
elections, which fuelled talk of Moscow’s discontent with the current Armenian 
leadership. It seems to suggest the Russian president’s congratulatory letter 
disproved that speculation.

(Lilit Harutiunian)


Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2019 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
www.rferl.org