Thursday, June 2, 2020
Armenian Constitutional Court Judges Refuse To Quit
• Artak Khulian
• Tatevik Lazarian
• Robert Zargarian
Armenia -- A Constitutional Court hearing in Yerevan, February 11, 2020.
The chairman and three other members of Armenia’s Constitutional Court indicated
on Thursday that they have no intention to resign despite government-backed
constitutional changes mandating their replacement.
They said that the amendments passed by the National Assembly on Monday cannot
come into force because they run counter to another Armenian law.
Armenia’s constitution barred Constitutional Court judges from serving for more
than 12 years when it was previously amended in April 2018. The country’s former
leadership made sure that this term limit does not retroactively apply to those
judges who were installed prior to that. A transitional clause allowed them to
retain their positions until reaching retirement age.
The latest amendments drafted by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s My Step bloc
and condemned by the Armenian opposition eliminated that clause. They call for
the immediate dismissal of three of the nine judges who had taken the bench in
the 1990s. They also require Hrayr Tovmasian to resign as Constitutional Court
chairman and become an ordinary member of the country’s highest judicial body.
The four judges were quick to question the legality of the amendments. In
particular, Tovmasian said that the parliamentary majority’s refusal to send
them to the Constitutional Court for examination before passing them in the
final reading was unconstitutional.
In a joint statement issued on Thursday, the judges argued that the authorities
have not made similar changes to a separate law on the Constititutional Court
which also exempts them from the 12-year term limit. The authorities should
comply with that law and “not transend the bounds” of their legal powers, added
the statement.
One of the judges, Alvina Gyulumian, insisted that she cannot be relieved of her
duties now when she spoke to RFE/RL’s Armenian service earlier in the day. “Show
me the legal act with which you are dismissing me,” she said, appealing to the
authorities.
Armenia - Constitutional Court Judge Alvina Gyulumian, .
Justice Minister Rustam Badasian dismissed the joint statement issued by
Tovmasian, Gyulumian, and the two other judges: Felix Tokhian and Hrant
Nazarian. He said that the constitution takes precedence over the law cited by
them. The law will soon be brought into conformity with the constitution, added
Badasian.
For his part, Pashinian, the main driving force behind the constitutional
changes, said that they were formally promulgated by parliament speaker Ararat
Mirzoyan on Thursday and will therefore take effect from midnight. Tovmasian
will cease to be Constitutional Court chairman while the three other judges will
resign from the court altogether a few hours later, Pashinian wrote on Facebook.
Hrachya Hakobian, a pro-government lawmaker and Pashinian’s brother-in-law, said
that the four judges must be banned from entering the court building on Friday
morning if they continue to defy the amendments.
The amendments were passed at an emergency session boycotted by the two
opposition parties represented in the National Assembly: Prosperous Armenia
Party (BHK) and Bright Armenia (LHK). The BHK tried to ask the Constitutional
Court to declare them unconstitutional. But the LHK refused to provide
signatures of its lawmakers needed by it.
LHK leader Edmon Marukian on Wednesday attributed the refusal to the
Constitutional Court’s decision to open on July 7 hearings on the legality of
coup charges brought against former President Robert Kocharian. Marukian claimed
that appealing to the court now could be seen as taking sides in Kocharian’s
standoff with the Armenian government.
Kocharian responded on Thursday by instructing his lawyers to withdraw his own
Constitutional Court appeal filed one year ago.
However, the LHK remained adamant in opposing the BHK’s court challenge against
the dismissal of the judges. “It’s a wrong move because the case will be heard
[by the Constitutional Court] anyway,” Marukian told reporters.
Other, more radical opposition forces not represented in the current parliament
condemned the LHK’s stance and accused Marukian’s party of helping Pashinian
gain control over the court.
Pashinian’s administration decided to amend the constitution after a yearlong
standoff with the Constitutional Court and Tovmasian in particular. The prime
minister has repeatedly accused Tovmasian and six other judges of maintaining
close ties to the country’s former government and impeding judicial reforms.
Tovmasian and opposition figures sympathetic to him have dismissed these claims,
saying that Pashinian is seeking to install new judges loyal to him.
Opposition Parties Vow Joint Action Against Government
• Narine Ghalechian
Armenia -- Prosperous Armenia Party leader Gagik Tsarukian arrives for a court
hearing on his pre-trial arrest sought by prosecutors, Yerevan, June 17, 2020.
Gagik Tsarukian’s Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) and two other opposition groups
have pledged to work together in challenging the government and “restoring the
constitutional order” in the country.
Tsarukian, the de facto head of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation
(Dashnaktsutyun), Ishkhan Saghatelian, and former National Security Service
(NSS) Director Artur Vanetsian made the announcement after trilateral talks held
on Wednesday.
In a joint statement issued on Thursday, the three men said their parties will
set up a “working group” tasked with drawing up a plan of joint actions and
coordinating its implementation. The statement gave no details.
Vanetsian, who leads the recently established Hayrenik (Fatherland) party, said
that their cooperation is necessitated by the “abnormal” political situation in
the country.
“The representatives of our political forces have common concerns over the
political situation,” Vanetsian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service. He noted that he
has regularly met with Tsarukian lately.
Armenia -- Former National Security Service Director Artur Vanetsian speaks to
journalists outside a court in Yerevan, June 17, 2020.
“There are many proposals and ideas but it will be wrong to talk about them
until they are adopted by the governing bodies of the three parties,”
Saghatelian said for his part. “We do not rule out the possibility of holding
rallies but have made no such decision yet.”
Vanetsian suggested that the BHK, Hayrenik and Dashnaktsutyun will not hold
joint anti-government rallies as long as there is a coronavirus-related state of
emergency in Armenia.
BHK representatives could not be reached for comment.
Tsarukian’s party, which has the second largest group in the Armenian
parliament, reached out to other opposition forces after its wealthy leader was
indicted last week on vote buying charges strongly denied by him.
Dashnaktsutyun and Hayrenik have also condemned the charges as politically
motivated. Unlike the BHK, they are not represented in the current parliament.
All three parties have called for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s resignation,
accusing his government of mishandling the coronavirus crisis and its
socioeconomic consequences. They have also strongly condemned government efforts
to replace at least three of the nine members of the Constitutional Court.
Pashinian’s political allies have dismissed these statements.
Vanetsian was appointed as head of Armenia’s most powerful security agency just
days after Pashinian swept to power in the “Velvet Revolution” of April-May
2018. He resigned in September 2019 and subsequently decided to enter active
politics.
Armenia’s Daily Coronavirus Cases Hit Fresh Record High
• Susan Badalian
Armenia -- A healthcare worker clad in protective gear looks after COVID-19
patients at the Surb Grigor Lusavorich Medical Center, Yerevan, June 5, 2020.
Health Minister Arsen Torosian insisted on Thursday that the authorities are
still able to cope with the continuing coronavirus epidemic in Armenia after the
number of new infections there hit a fresh daily high of 771.
The figure accounted for one-third of coronavirus tests carried out in the
country of about 3 million on Wednesday. The total number of coronavirus cases
rose to 22,488, up from almost 18,700 cases recorded as of June 18.
The Ministry of Health also reported that 11 more people died from COVID-19 in
the past day, bringing the official death toll to 397. The figure does not
include the deaths of 131 other people infected with the virus. The ministry
says that those deaths were caused by other, pre-existing conditions.
Torosian noted the record daily number of new cases when he spoke during a
weekly cabinet meeting in Yerevan. He said that the epidemiological situation in
Armenia remains “stable” despite the continuing spread of the disease.
“The virus is now everywhere but we have no big outbreaks,” said the minister.
“Infection rates among young people are not increasing … but we have the
opposite trend among elderly people: the higher the age the higher the infection
rate.”
“Since last Sunday … the situation has been fairly good in terms of the
hospitalization,” he went on. “As of nine o’clock in the morning there were only
51 citizens who needed to be transferred to hospitals dealing the coronavirus.”
Torosian added that there are now “several” vacant intensive-care beds at those
hospitals.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian again indicated that despite the high
infection numbers his government has no plans to re-impose lockdown restrictions
and will continue instead to put the emphasis on getting more Armenians to
practice social distancing and wear face masks in public.
The national police chief, Vahe Ghazarian, said in this regard that on Wednesday
alone more than 1,700 people were fined for not wearing masks.
The Armenian government issued stay-at-home orders and shut down schools,
universities and most nonessential businesses in late March shortly after
recording the first COVID-19 cases. But it began easing those restrictions
already in mid-April and all but lifted the lockdown by the beginning of May.
The number of coronavirus cases has risen substantially since then.
Pashinian Lambastes Opposition
• Anush Mkrtchian
Armenia -- Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian speaks in the parliament, Yerevan,
.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian lashed out on Thursday at his political opponents
accusing him of stifling dissent, mishandling the coronavirus crisis and failing
to address its socioeconomic consequences.
Pashinian said that they stand no chance of coming to power despite exploiting
the pandemic for political aims.
“The political bacteria think that they have got a chance to revive themselves,”
he said, speaking in the Armenian parliament. “Now they are talking of famine,
social revolts … You should be afraid of that social revolt because if it
happens we have nothing to become victims of a social revolt.
“It’s your illegally built mansions and Bentleys that will first and foremost
become victims of a social revolt. Do you want a social revolt? Provoke a social
revolt. We’ll see where you will end up as a result of that social revolt.”
Pashinian went on to predict that only those political forces that
“unequivocally support the values” of the 2018 “Velvet Revolution” will be
represented in Armenia’s next parliament, which is due to be elected in 2023.
Although the premier did not name anyone, Gagik Tsarukian, the leader of the
main opposition Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK), was clearly one of the targets
of his harsh criticism.
The parliament controlled by Pashinian’s My Step bloc last week allowed
law-enforcement authorities to arrest and prosecute Tsarukian on vote buying
charges rejected by him and his party as politically motivated. BHK lawmakers
have seen boycotted parliament sessions in protest.
Pashinian defended the indictment of Tsarukian, who called for the Armenian
government’s resignation earlier in June. He also said that vote buying by the
BHK is a widely known fact.
A senior BHK member, Mikael Melkumian, hit back at Pashinian later in the day,
repeating Tsarukian’s claims that the government has failed “in all spheres.”
“Who is responsible for the [coronavirus-related] deaths of our fellow citizens:
the opposition or the authorities?” Melkumian added in a Facebook post.
In his speech, Pashinian also rounded on Mikael Minasian, former President Serzh
Sarkisian’s fugitive son-in-law also prosecuted on corruption charges. Minasian
has repeatedly alleged in recent weeks that the premier and his relatives
themselves are illegally enriching themselves.
“Since they want to carry out a revolution they want to portray me through
‘free’ media as Serzh Sarkisian … as a disgusting figure like them,” stated
Pashinian.
“There must be no doubt that we will subject that corrupt system, all of them in
a single basket, to capitulation because there is only one thing behind us, on
our minds and in our hearts: the truth,” he added.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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