Friday, April 13, 2018
Opposition Leader Returns To Yerevan For Anti-Sarkisian Rallies
April 13, 2018
• Karlen Aslanian
Armenia - Opposition leader Nikol Pashinian appeals to people during a
demonstration in Yerevan, 13 April 2018.
Ending a two-week walking tour of Armenia’s northern and central regions,
opposition leader Nikol Pashinian returned to Yerevan on Friday hours before
the start of his rallies against former President Serzh Sarkisian’s continued
hold on power.
Pashinian has walked around 200 kilometers through Gyumri, Vanadzor and other
towns to try to drum up popular support for his and his Civil Contract party’s
efforts to prevent Sarkisian from becoming prime minister.
He was joined by dozens of mostly young activists while entering Yerevan on
foot. The small crowd then marched to the city center, urging people to attend
a rally that was due to be held in Liberty Square later in the day.
“Come to Liberty Square and stand up for your power and for your homeland,”
Pashinian shouted through a megaphone before chanting “Take a step, reject
Serzh!”
Speaking to reporters, Pashinian reiterated that he and his supporters will be
camped in Liberty Square at least until a parliament debate and vote on the
next prime minister slated for Monday. He said they could also march to the
parliament building on Monday.
Armenia - Opposition leader Nikol Pashinian and his supporters march through
Yerevan, 13 April 2018.
“It doesn’t matter how many people will come to Liberty Square,” said the
42-year-old politician. “We will be taking actions anyway.”
But Pashinian also stressed: “The scale of our actions depends on the presence
of citizens.”
Armenian officials have already warned Pashinian against blocking streets or
entrances to government buildings, saying that such actions would be deemed
illegal.
Pashinian dismissed these warnings. “Citizens of Armenia have a right to take
peaceful actions of civil disobedience and they will exercise that right in
full,” he said.
The leadership of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) is expected to
formally nominate Sarkisian for prime minister on Saturday. The HHK controls
the majority of seats in the parliament.
Sarkisian completed his second and final presidential term on April 9. His
successor, Armen Sarkissian, has largely ceremonial powers due to Armenia’s
transition to a parliamentary system of government controversially engineered
by the ex-president.
Serzh Sarkisian promised in 2014 that he will not seek to become prime minister
if Armenia becomes a parliamentary republic. His political opponents now accuse
him of reneging on that pledge. HHK figures claim that he never explicitly
pledged to quit power and is better equipped to govern the country than anyone
else.
Car Imports To Armenia Sharply Up In 2018
April 13, 2018
Armenia - Right-hand drive cars block a street in Yerevan during a protest held
by their owners, 7Jan2018.
Imports of cars to Armenia nearly tripled in the first quarter of this year,
the State Revenue Committee (SRC) said on Friday.
The SRC put the total number of imported personal cars, trucks and other
vehicles at 13,768, up from 5,135 in the same period of 2017. Customs and
value-added taxes collected from them rose just as strongly, to almost 8.9
billion drams ($18.5 million), the national tax and customs service said in a
statement.
Car imports to Armenia rose by almost 54 percent, to $247 million, last year
after falling considerably in 2016, according to the National Statistical
Service (NSS). NSS data also shows that the Armenian economy grew by 7.5
percent in 2017. Government officials say the robust growth continued into the
first three months of 2018.
The SRC statement quoted a senior customs official, Karen Gevorgian, as saying
that the unusually sharp rise in first-quarter car imports primarily resulted
from new and more transparent customs procedures introduced this year.
Another, possibly more important factor is a government ban on imports of
right-hand drive cars which took effect on April 1.
The number of such cars, most of them cheap second-hand vehicles manufactured
in Japan, has grown rapidly in recent years, even though Armenia uses
right-hand traffic. Police officials say they account for a disproportionately
large share of traffic accidents in the country.
Thousands Rally Against Armenian Leader
April 13, 2018
• Karlen Aslanian
Armenia - Opposition supporters occupy France Square in Yerevan, 13 April 2018.
Thousands of people occupied a key street junction in the center of Yerevan
late on Friday at the start of nonstop opposition demonstrations against former
President Serzh Sarkisian’s apparent plans to continue to govern Armenia.
The main organizer of the protests, Civil Contract party leader Nikol
Pashinian, said he will block more streets in the coming days in a bid to
prevent Sarkisian from becoming prime minister.
“This is a campaign again Serzh Sarkisian’s third term in office and against
the [ruling] HHK. This is a campaign against hopelessness and for dignity,”
Pashinian declared in a fiery speech delivered at nearby Liberty Square earlier
in the evening.
“We will blockade everything that is possible to blockade,” he said. “Our
actions will be taken around the clock.”
Armenia - Opposition supporters rally in Yerevan's Liberty Square, 13 April
2018.
Immediately after his hour-long speech the protesters marched to the
intersection of three avenues forming Yerevan’s sprawling France Square and
blocked traffic through it. Pashinian urged them to stay there through the
night, saying that riot police will not attempt to disperse them in that case.
Pashinian told the crowd to occupy the square despite being warned by a senior
police officer not to block streets. He at the same time urged his supporters
to avoid any violent actions even if security forces move to break up the
protests.
“We must rule out violence not only as action but also as counteraction,” he
said.
There was little police presence in and around the occupied area. But large
numbers of riot police were deployed several hundred meters away, on a street
leading to Sarkisian’s private residence and the former presidential palace.
The HHK’s governing Council is expected to meet and formally nominate Sarkisian
for prime minister on Saturday. Armenia’s HHK-controlled parliament is due to
vote for the next premier on Monday.
In his speech, Pashinian said the protesters will march to the HHK headquarters
and try to disrupt that meeting. He also called for a march to the parliament
building that will be aimed at preventing lawmakers from appointing Sarkisian
as prime minister.
“He must feel besieged in Yerevan,” Pashinian said of Sarkisian, who completed
his second and final presidential term on Monday.
Pashinian voiced a damning indictment of Sarkisian’s presidency, alleging
widespread corruption, economic mismanagement and a failure to meet security
challenges facing Armenia. And he again accused Sarkisian of breaking his 2014
pledge not to extend his rule if Armenia becomes a parliamentary republic.
Armenia - Opposition leader Nikol Pashinian addresses supporters in Yerevan's
Liberty Square, 13 April 2018.
The ex-president’s allies claim that he never explicitly pledged not to become
prime minister. They also say the HHK has a popular mandate to pick the next
premier because it won the parliamentary elections held in April 2017.
Sarkisian offered similar arguments last month. He cited the increased risk of
renewed fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh and other security challenges facing the
country.
Other major opposition groups have so far declined to join the anti-Sarkisian
campaign spearheaded by Pashinian. They include the Bright Armenia and
Hanrapetutyun parties that make up, together with Civil Contract, the Yelk
alliance, the third largest force in the parliament. Bright Armenia and
Hanrapetutyun leaders have been skeptical about the opposition’s ability to
pull large crowds.
Pashinian reached out to these and other opposition forces when he addressed
the demonstrators in Liberty Square. He urged them to put aside their
differences and join his movement.
Press Review
April 13, 2018
“Zhoghovurd” reacts to Justice Minister Davit Harutiunian’s claim that Serzh
Sarkisian was only one of several potential candidates for the post of prime
minister discussed by the leadership of the ruling Republican Party (HHK). The
paper notes that it contradicts statements made by other senior HHK figures.
“If Davit Harutiunian did not coordinate this statement with Serzh Sarkisian,
then what happened yesterday can be considered an act of sabotage,” it says.
“After all, there have been growing manifestations of personality cult inside
the HHK.”
“Zhamanak” says the key question now is not who will become Armenia’s new prime
minister but “who will pay for reforms.” That question has for years remained
unanswered, says the paper.
“Chorrord Ishkhanutyun” tries to explain why Serzh Sarkisian is about to do
something that even his predecessor Robert Kocharian did not manage to achieve:
a third term in office. The paper says that throughout is rule Kocharian “put
aside national interests” to maintain a tight grip on power and “accumulate
personal wealth.” “Serzh Sarkisian, by contrast, went one step farther,” it
says. “He realized that he cannot be guided only by his personal wishes and
must also take into account the wishes of his entourage. And while Robert
Kocharian was busy enjoying his life and earning billions [of dollars,] Serzh
Sarkisian ‘refined’ the HHK inherited from [the late] Vazgen Sarkisian, brought
together former mid-level members of the [Communist] party nomenklatura and
young careerists devoid of any moral principles, and created his gang.”
“Hraparak” says that political tensions in Armenia are rising ahead of the
April 17 election of the new prime minister. “As long as the protesting masses
have not reached a dangerous level the authorities will refrain from violent
actions, mindful of the fact that any violence could cause a much stronger
backlash and spark a fire,” writes the paper. “For its part, the opposition is
also behaving prudently and not yet taking drastic actions and calling for a
violent struggle. One thing is clear: both sides have learned lessons from the
past and will do everything to avoid a repeat of the March 1 [2008 violence.]”
(Tigran Avetisian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2018 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
www.rferl.org