Armenian national team captain and Arsenal attacking midfield Henrikh Mkhitaryan features in the latest FIFA 18 Ultimate Team of the Week. As Goal.com reports, the Arsenal winger marked his home debut with three assists in the 5-1 win over Everton.
Mkhitaryan’s Gunners team-mate Aaron Ramsey is also involved following his hat-trick at Emirates Stadium.
The Team of the Week is available from 1800 GMT on Wednesday, February 7.
The National Assembly has started the discussion of the draft law “On the Formation and Activities of the Security Council”.
As VERELQ wrote earlier, the main change is that from now on the Security Council will be headed by the RA Prime Minister, while the current Security Council is an advisory body attached to the president. In the rationale of the project, it is stated that this is due to constitutional changes. Under the 2005 amended Constitution, the President establishes and chairs a National Security Council. And here, with the amendments of 2015, the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia established new legal regulations regarding the Government due to the transition to the parliamentary system of governance in the Republic of Armenia. Substantial changes were made also the institute of the president of the republic.
In his speech, Hrayr Tovmasyan, the chairman of the NA State Legal and Human Rights Protection Committee, mentioned that with the new regulations, although the name of the structure has remained the same, it is now a completely different body, a state administration body. And it is due to this, he explained, that today the members of the Security Council can be representatives of the non-executive power, as well as other persons who do not have a position.
According to Tovmasyan, the Security Council is a body of the executive power and the absence of the president is due to that circumstance.
“Decision of the main directions of the defense sector policy is entrusted to the executive power. This is what determines the composition established by the law,” he said. Let’s remind that from now on, the President of the Republic of Armenia and the Speaker of the National Assembly cannot be members of the Security Council. Instead, the first deputy prime minister, deputy prime ministers, the secretary of the Security Council, the minister of defense, the minister of foreign affairs, the director of the national security service, the chief of police, the chief of the general staff of the armed forces will be included. It has been established that the main authority of the Security Council is the main policy of the defense sector is to determine directions.
The fact that the head of the country will no longer be part of the Security Council worries the opposition. In his speech, deputy of “Yelk” faction, former Prime Minister of RA Aram Sargsyan urged us not to forget that we are a warring country, and if the prime minister is the commander-in-chief and it is possible that the prime minister will die on the battlefield, then who will bring these issues to be discussed?
“The first deputy prime minister you mentioned, who is perhaps an agricultural specialist? NA Speaker is a very important political position. If you want to know, the Speaker of the National Assembly is a more legitimate body than the Prime Minister, because he received the people’s vote, and then he voted for the Prime Minister from here,” Aram Zargsyan stated.
The opposition deputy considers it wrong to deprive the new president of the country from participating in the sessions of the Security Council, even if from now on the council is an executive body. “And why did we bring this person, we brought this person, so that if the work of the Prime Minister and the Speaker of the National Assembly is paralyzed, he will give his opinion. The parliament should be represented in the Security Council, the president should also be there, moreover, there should even be a representative from each faction in it,” he stressed.
A deputy from the “Yelk” faction also continued his colleague’s dissatisfaction Edmon Marukyan, who noted that the Constitution does not provide for the position of the first deputy prime minister, while this law defines such a position. Moreover, the First Deputy Prime Minister gets the opportunity to be part of the Security Council. According to Marutyan, this is unconstitutional.
Deputy Minister of Justice Artur Hovhannisyan tried to explain that there is no violation of the Constitution, it’s just that the powers of the Deputy Prime Minister are separated in this way. In other words, according to the law, one of the deputy prime ministers is given the powers in the absence of the prime minister, but it is not said that the first deputy prime minister has a superior position over the other. Marukyan, however, was not satisfied with such an explanation, on the contrary, it gave a basis for conducting a comparison. “This is the same as if the law stipulates that the deputy receives citizens and writes laws in his absence,” said the deputy.
Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, member of the RPA Eduard Sharmazanov in his turn stated that the project is important and stems from the constitutional reforms, and what remains for the debate, then it is quite natural.
“Unlike legislative and executive bodies, the Security Council has a different function: it is only an advisory body. Armenia transitioned to a parliamentary system, where the separation of executive power becomes clear. the executive power has its function, the legislator has its function, and when they say: why are the Speaker of the National Assembly, the President of the Republic of Armenia not a member of the Security Council, I’m sorry, but this does not stand up to any criticism,” he said.
According to him, the basis of the foundations of democracy is the principle of separation of powers. Therefore, it is not the function of the legislature to enter into the sphere of direct action of the executive or judiciary.
To remind, according to the project, the Security Council defines the main directions of the policy of the defense sector, on the recommendation of the Prime Minister, it can discuss issues related to the security, territorial integrity and integrity of the borders. The powers of the Security Council are defined by this law and the Law of the Republic of Armenia “On Defense”. The Security Council adopts decisions on issues related to the main directions of defense policy, and on other issues within its jurisdiction, decisions of an advisory nature.
Now, when Serzh Sargsyan is likely to claim the post of Prime Minister, it is clear that the post of First Deputy Prime Minister will be given to Karen Karapetyan. Nikol Pashinyan, the leader of the “Exit” faction, announced this in the National Assembly, adding that according to this, taking away the post of Prime Minister from Karapetyan, they are giving him an incentive award in return.
“He was offered the prime minister’s seat earlier, but now it is being taken away from him. In order not to sound impolite, I want to tone it down a bit. And so that the people don’t notice all that, they want to give the presidential seat to Armen Sarkissian, who smiles beautifully at everyone and everywhere. They will take him out of the presidential residence and give him a European-renovated apartment on Prospect. As if sit there and smile,” declared Pashinyan.
Chairman of the Standing Committee on State-Legal Affairs of the National Assembly against the opposition MP’s statement Hrayr Tovmasyan urged not to look for an element of conspiracy, because the Constitution provides for several positions of deputy prime ministers and it is not prohibited to appoint a first deputy prime minister, whose primacy will be purely nominal.
“He will replace the prime minister during his absence,” Tovmasyan emphasized.
Earlier we informed that the first deputy prime minister will also be in the new Security Council, which will not include the President of RA and the Speaker of the National Assembly.
According to the rumors, that position will be filled by the current Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan. Vache Gabrielyan is considered the most likely candidate for the position of Deputy Prime Minister.
“Rostelecom” company intends to sell its business in Armenia, GNC-Alfa company. According to Interfax.ru, this was announced by the head of Rostelecom company, Mikhail Oseevsky.
He noted that interstate synergy is not visible. It’s about how to make the most of the work there, possibly including through sales.
The source notes that Armenia is the first of the countries close to the Russian Federation, where “Rostelecom” has started providing services to private customers. The Russian company acquired 75 percent minus 1 shares from the Armenian operator for $22.5 million in February 2012.
Armen Sarkissian, proposed by the Republican Party as a candidate for the President of the Republic of Armenia, had meetings with French National Assembly deputies Jacques Marilosyan and Mrs. Delphine O in Paris.
It should be noted that Jacques Marilosyan is the chairman of the friendship group with Armenia of the French National Assembly, and Delphine Oh is the chairman of the friendship group with Iran and the vice-chairman of the friendship group with Turkey.
There was an exchange of views on the development of friendly relations between Armenia and France, the formation of a new system of governance as a result of constitutional changes in Armenia, as well as regional issues.
Armen Sarkissian also had a meeting with the deputy Alexander Holroyd and discuss issues of bilateral interest. Being a French citizen, Holroyd lives in the United Kingdom and is elected as a member of the French National Assembly from there. Such a format allows representing France’s interests in countries with large French communities, including the UK. At the same time, he represents the interests of the British-French community in the French National Assembly.
Thursday, February 8, 2017 Snap Election In Azerbaijan Unrelated To Karabakh Talks, Says Yerevan . Sargis Harutyunyan Armenia - Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharian holds a news conference in Yerevan, 23Nov2016. A senior Armenian diplomat denied on Thursday any connection between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's decision to call a snap presidential election and ongoing Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks on Nagorno-Karabakh. In a decree announced on Monday, Aliyev brought the date of Azerbaijan's next presidential election forward by more than six months, to April 11. He did not explain the reasons for the unexpected decision which swiftly drew sharp criticism from his beleaguered opponents. Some observers have suggested that the move may be connected with the Karabakh peace process which has intensified of late. "I don't think that Azerbaijan is a country where elections matter," Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharian told reporters. "Election results there are always predetermined. So I would link the earlier-than-expect holding of elections in Azerbaijan with their intra-clan relationships." "Of course, external factors may also be at play," said Kocharian. "If there is an internal struggle for power there, then any information to the effect that a rival side in that struggle may be backed by other states could also have an impact." Aliyev met on Wednesday with the U.S., Russian and French co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, who travelled to Baku at the start of their latest tour of the Karabakh conflict zone. According to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, Aliyev and the mediators "reached an agreement on the continuation of intensive negotiations after the presidential elections in Armenia and Azerbaijan." The mediators were due to arrive in Yerevan on Thursday for similar talks with President Serzh Sarkisian. The latter will complete his second and final presidential term on April 9, two days before the Azerbaijani presidential ballot. Armenia's next president will be elected by the parliament in early March and have largely ceremonial powers because of the country's transition to the parliamentary system of government. Sarkisian is tipped to become prime minister later in April. Aliyev and Sarkisian pledged to step up the protracted search for a Karabakh settlement at their most recent meeting held in Geneva in October. Their foreign ministers held follow-up talks in December and January. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov described those talks as "positive." Minister Rejects Tax Cuts Demanded By Armenian Opposition . Hovannes Movsisian Armenia - Finance Minister Vartan Aramian speaks at a news conference in Yerevan, 25Sep2017. Finance Minister Vartan Aramian on Thursday dismissed opposition calls for the Armenian government to reverse recent increases in personal income and fuel taxes. The Tsarukian Bloc and the Yelk alliance are particularly critical of higher excise duties on fuel that came into force on January 1. The two opposition groups represented in the Armenian parliament blame them for recent weeks' sizable rises in fuel prices. The National Assembly is due to debate next week a Yelk bill that would repeal the new tax rates. Echoing statements by Prime Minister Karen Karapetian, Aramian insisted that their impact on consumer price inflation will be minimal. "When discussing [the recent amendments to] the Tax Code, we definitely took into account the impact of higher excise tax rates on [overall] prices," he told reporters. "It's estimated at just 0.5 percentage points." Aramian also made the point that tax cuts are a wrong way to reduce the cost of living in any country. "Tax legislation or taxes are not the right tool for helping socially vulnerable categories of the population," he said. "This is not done through tax rates around the world." The minister further argued that the government needs more tax revenue to finance greater budgetary spending planned by it. The government would be wrong to resort to internal or external borrowing for that purpose, he said. Yelk leaders say the authorities should boost their tax revenue by cracking down on tax evasion and corruption instead. They also claim that the higher income tax rates will hurt the middle class hard. Government officials counter that only those Armenians who earn well above the average wage in the country will be taxed more. They say 90 percent of workers will not have any additional sums deducted from their wages. Armenian Presidential Frontrunner To Meet Opposition . Ruzanna Stepanian Armenia - Former Prime Minister Armen Sarkissian visits the TUMO Center for Creative Technologies in Yerevan, 31 January 2018. The opposition Yelk alliance reiterated on Thursday that its parliament deputies will not vote for President Serzh Sarkisian's pick for the next head of state despite agreeing to meet him. Edmon Marukian, one of the bloc's leaders, told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) that the meeting with former Prime Minister Armen Sarkissian will take place on Friday. Marukian said Sarkissian was aware of Yelk's stance when he proposed the meeting. "We expect to hear from Mr. Sarkissian about his vision, about how he imagines his activities as president and how he sees Armenia's course given the existing challenges," said Marukian. The Armenian parliament is due to elect a new and less powerful president of the republic one month before Serzh Sarkisian serves out his final presidential term on April 9. The outgoing president offered Armen Sarkissian (no relation) to become the ruling Republican Party's presidential candidate late last month. Sarkissian, who currently serves as Armenia's ambassador to Britain, said he needs "some time" to decide whether to accept the offer. He said he will hold consultations with major political and civic groups before making the decision. The Republican Party (HHK) spokesman, Eduard Sharmazanov, suggested on Thursday that the nominee will make the decision after his meetings with the parliamentary opposition, which also includes businessman Gagik Tsarukian's alliance. "It will be difficult for him to make a final decision without meeting with the opposition," claimed Sharmazanov. "So I think our presidential candidate is right to meet with representatives of Yelk and the Tsarukian Bloc. Under the Armenian constitution, a presidential candidate has to be backed by a three-fourths and two-thirds majority of lawmakers in order to win in the first and second rounds of voting respectively. A simple majority of votes is enough to win the presidency in the third round. The HHK has such a majority. Nevertheless, President Sarkisian has expressed hope that the former prime minister will win outright in the first round. In that case, the latter would need the backing of at least 79 members of the 105-seat parliament. The HHK and its junior coalition partner, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun), control 65 parliament seats. They will therefore need the support of the Tsarukian Bloc which holds 31 seats. New Armenian Government Post Sparks Controversy . Tatevik Lazarian Armenia - President Serzh Sarkisian (L) and Prime Minister Karen Karapetian shake hands before an official ceremony at the Yerablur military cemetery in Yerevan, 28 January 2018. Opposition lawmakers denounced as unconstitutional on Thursday government plans to create the post of first deputy prime minister who will be appointed after Armenia becomes a parliamentary republic in April. Under a government bill debated by the National Assembly, the first deputy premier will be one of the members of a new security body to be headed by the next Armenian prime minister, the country's most powerful official. Edmon Marukian, a leader of the opposition Yelk bloc, argued that Armenia's constitution says only that the prime minister can have up to three deputies responsible for various policy areas. "The constitution does not single out any of them," said Marukian. "It doesn't say that one of them shall be first deputy prime minister while the two others just deputy prime ministers, which in essence means a hierarchy." "Unless we correct this now, we will have an unconstitutional law," he added during the heated debate. Artur Hovannisian, a deputy justice minister who presented the bill to lawmakers, denied that. "I absolutely do not agree with your position," he said. "The constitution does not contain any restrictions on this issue." Hovannisian did acknowledge, though, that the first deputy prime minister will have more powers than the two other vice-premiers. In particular, he or she will run the government "in the prime minister's absence," added the official. The planned creation of the new government post is seen by some opposition figures and pundits as another sign that President Serzh Sarkisian intends to stay in power as prime minister after completing his final presidential term in April. The outgoing president has shed little light on his plans so far. Nikol Pashinian, another Yelk leader, charged that Sarkisian has broken a pledge to let Prime Minister Karen Karapetian retain his post after Armenia's transition to the parliamentary system of government. "In order to mitigate this cheating process a little, he is giving [Karapetian] a consolation prize: the post of first deputy prime minister," he said. Pashinian also likened the constitution, controversially amended in 2015, and new laws stemming from it to a "suit tailor-made for Serzh Sarkisian." Press Review "Haykakan Zhamanak" is dissatisfied with the Armenian authorities' response to death threats made against Marianna Grigorian, the editor of the Medialab.am publication. The paper says that law-enforcement bodies only reluctantly opened a criminal case in connection with those threats. It says that they had just as reluctantly identified and prosecuted a man who beat up an opposition parliamentarian in Yerevan a few years ago. That man never went to prison. "This is a mentality befitting the Middle Age," says the paper. "Zhamanak" comments on a government bill that would seriously restrict the next Armenia president's power to grant pardons. "It is not accidental that there is bitter infighting in the higher echelons of power regarding who will control one of the main segments of the [ruling] system: the criminal underworld," claims the paper. Pardons granted in Armenia have never been about justice and humanism, it says. "Zhoghovurd" accuses the government of presenting misleading data to prove that Prime Minister Karen Karapetian has delivered on his pledge to attract at least $830 million in investments Armenia's public infrastructure and businesses last year. Karapetian said in the parliament on Wednesday that the actual investments exceeded that figure. The paper points to official statistics showing that foreign direct investment (FDI) in Armenia fell short of government projections and was mainly channeled into the Armenian mining sector. The government, it says, has used a flawed methodology to report a much higher investment total, which includes money spent by the government. "Hraparak" complains that Armenians are now unwilling to take to the streets and protest against their government in large number. The paper sees a sharp contrast with 1988 when huge crowds gathered in Yerevan to demand Karabakh's unification with Armenia despite stern warnings issued by the Soviet authorities. "People were not scared of the Moscow Politburo and the tanks brought by it," it says. (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
Please find the attached press release of the Ministry of Diaspora. Sincerely, Media and PR Department: ( 374 10) 585601, internal 805 ---------------------- Sincerely Department of Press and Public Relations ( 374 10) 585601, extension 805
21. Video conference dedicated to the Fourth Pan-Armenian Conference of Architects and Engineers.docx
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Skier Mikayel Mikayelyan will bear Armenia’s flag at the solemn opening ceremony of 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang tomorrow, the National Olympic Committee reported.
Gagik Bolshikyan, the head of Armenia’s delegation to the Pyeongchang 2018, skiers Katya Galstyan and Ashot Karapetyan, coaches Artur Mikayelyan and Seyran Harutyunyan, as well as Secretary General of Armenian Ski Federation Gagik Sargsyan will also take part in the Winter Olympics Parade of Nations.
The 23rd Winter Olympic Games kick off on Friday, at 3 p.m. Yerevan time.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has praised the way that the club’s newcomer, Armenian national team captain Henrikh Mkhitaryan has settled in at the Emirates ahead of his first ever North London derby.
Wenger seems delighted with the way his new signing has begun, Mirror reported.
“He has a very professional attitude in training and matches,” said Wenger at his press conference before Saturday’s meeting with Totenham at Wembley.
“I’m not surprised by that – to me, it’s completely normal.”
“Once the game has started, these guys have top-level experience,” Wenger said of Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
“They know what’s important and that’s to focus on their performance.
“These guys are top quality players. Why should they not repeat the performance? [vs. Everton].”
12 Armenian chess players will take part in Aeroflot Open 2018 international chess festival in Russia.
The major chess championship scheduled for Moscow from 19 February to 2 March consists of three tournaments, the National Olympic Committee reported.
Members of the Armenian national team Gabriel Sargissian, Haik Martirosyan, as well as GMs Manuel Petrosyan, Arman Mikayelyan and IMs Aram Hakobyan and Shant Sargsyan will compete at Tournament A.
A total of six other Armenian chess players will compete at Tournaments B and C.