Category: 2018

I think that it is a mistake with very big and serious consequences to involve Artsakh in the internal political processes of Armenia and manipulate it within the framework of the pre-election campaign. Artsakh is a topic that should be treated very delicately, considering our opponents, and in any case, one should try to avoid any speculations about it. Arman Ghukasyan, a political scientist and chairman of the “For Social Justice” party, said this in a conversation with VERELQ, referring to the developments of the last few days.

To remind, during these four days of the campaign, the topic of Artsakh is mentioned many times by one of the active actors of the Armenian political field, the representatives of the “My Step” alliance, which is considered the favorite in these elections. First, a deputy candidate Sasun Mikayelyan declared that “the victory of the Velvet Revolution was more important than the Artsakh liberation war”, then Nikol Pashinyandeclared that the son of Artsakh and no president served in Artsakh and in the Armed Forces in general. It is clear that Stepanakert could not respond to these statements and answers were given regarding the accusations against Artsakh. However, the Acting Prime Minister today urged President Bako Sahakyan in an almost threatening tone to sober up the representatives of his government and the press spokesperson and send them to work, not to make comments. He also announced that he will discuss all this with Bako Sahakyan after the elections.

According to Arman Ghukasyan, Nikol Pashinyan’s sharp statements were not very appropriate, because, first of all, we have never separated Artsakh and Armenia from each other, and besides, there were reactions only regarding the issues and accusations that were directly related to Artsakh.

“Such statements contain a dangerous message. Maybe Mr. Pashinyan expressed his thoughts incorrectly, but if he said what he wanted to say, then I, as a citizen of the Republic of Armenia and also a leader of a political force, consider them incorrect, because those statements can leave such an impression that the current government of the Republic of Armenia urges Artsakh to deal exclusively with their affairs”, our interlocutor noted, also emphasizing that it is wrong to accuse people for expressing their own opinion or interpreting the statements of others. In the end, he stressed, how could not only Artsakh citizens who participated in Artsakh? to the freedom struggle, but the society of Armenia did not respond to the statement made by Sasun Mikayelyan.

Referring to the course of the campaign, Ghukasyan noted that four days have already passed since its start, but he does not see a classic campaign process. Instead, there is one person, Nikol Pashinyan and others, and it is not about an equal electoral battle, but just a fight for second place. Ghukasyan pointed out that yes, the force led by Pashinyan will take the majority in the National Assembly and there is no doubt about that, but it is difficult to remember a country where the forces that applied for participation in the elections fought for the second place.

“This is an interesting precedent, but also following the current developments, it becomes clearer for our political force that the decision made by the party not to participate in the extraordinary parliamentary elections was very correct and justified, because the political force should not go just to take the second place in the election. Any political force must fight to take power. “Only that option is acceptable for us,” he added.

Lia Khojoyan

I am interested in the current political events to the extent that they will lead to the preservation of the positions of the RPA and its satellite political forces or, on the contrary, to their ultimate marginalization. Armenian Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Artsakh Arman Melikyan mentioned this in a conversation with VERELQ.

“I proceed from the fact that now the political struggle for power has somewhat intensified and the competing teams, at least in their verbal words, neither see the meaning nor have the desire to spare each other. In this context, I consider it natural that every wrong or ambiguous expression can become an occasion for mutual accusations and reprimands,” he said.

Melikyan emphasized that there are factors that may not be clearly visible in today’s unique political confrontation, but they influence the approaches and rhetoric of the parties. According to him, acting prime minister can be considered from this point of view Nikol Pashinyan the harsh exhortation addressed to the President of Artsakh Bako Sahakyan.

“The thing is that it is difficult to imagine how the secretary of the National Security Council of the Republic of Azerbaijan or the spokesperson of the president can make comments without agreeing their main points with their superiors. In other words, their words are perceived as Bako Sahakyan’s words. The latter, quite legitimately, has always been perceived as Serzh Sargsyan’s closest associate and like-minded, close and reliable friend. Therefore, Nikol Pashinyan can consider the exhortations and criticism voiced by Artsakh officials as a systematic attempt to hinder the political success of his team, the real author of which is sitting in Yerevan,” he said.

At the same time, Arman Melikyan noted that in any case, it would be good if all the representatives of the Prime Minister’s team understand the weight of every word they utter and the possible negative consequences, and the political elite of Artsakh “would do well to seriously focus on the issue of a smooth transition of power and make the issue of holding early presidential elections a subject of discussion.”

To remind, during these four days of the campaign, the topic of Artsakh is mentioned many times by one of the active actors of the Armenian political field, the representatives of the “My Step” alliance, which is considered the favorite in these elections. A few days ago, a deputy candidate Sasun Mikayelyan declared that “the victory of the Velvet Revolution was more important than the Artsakh liberation war”, then Nikol Pashinyandeclared that the son of Artsakh and no president served in Artsakh and in the Armed Forces in general. It is clear that Stepanakert could not respond to these statements and answers were given regarding the accusations against Artsakh. However, the Acting Prime Minister urged President Bako Sahakyan in an almost threatening tone to calm down the representatives of his government and the press spokesperson and send them to work, not to make comments. He also announced that he will discuss all this with Bako Sahakyan after the elections.

Lia Khojoyan

VERELQ presents the most notable publications of the Armenian press.

“time” the newspaper writes. “The leader of the RPA list Vigen Sargsyan announced yesterday that their proportional list representatives are withdrawing under the influence of fear. However, the reality is that most of these candidates appeared on that list under the influence of fear. RPA members claim in private conversations that the party’s elite forced them to be on the list, otherwise threatening to reveal undesirable aspects of their activities. During this time, those leaving have realized that they will not even get 10 votes, and have decided to avoid unnecessary embarrassment.”

 “Publication” the newspaper writes. “Under all governments, the security bodies conduct closed, non-public polls on campaign days to get an approximate picture of the election results, and then report to their superiors. According to our sources close to the security agencies, the other day Nikol Pashinyan the results of the last days of such polls were put on the table. The percentages of KP were high, but quite low compared to the days of the mayoral elections. Among the ratings, according to the polls, in first place in Shirak Felix Tsolakyan was in Yerevan Alen Simonyan»:

“Publication” the daily writes. “The former governor of Aragatsotn submitted his resignation to the CEC yesterday Sargis Sahakyan, according to our information, a few days ago, during the party gathering, he made a sensational speech that he and his brother would be the last to leave the RPA. “He was a fan of RPA and did not stop glorifying even after the revolution Serzh Sargsyan“said our RPA source, assuring that he did not inform the party of the reasons for his resignation, but they are sure that, as Hermine Naghdalyanin this case, Sahakyan was also threatened with “compromise documents”. However, some people think that they have understood that without money they have no voice, they voluntarily save themselves from embarrassment. By the way, 4-5 unknown candidates from the RPA also submitted their resignations, the RPA informed that they were initially included to ensure the required number.” 

“People” the daily writes. “Zhoghovurd” daily reported the other day that the Ministry of Defense was instructed to refrain from participating in political processes. Some details of those instructions became known yesterday. In particular, the commanders and deputies of the military unit were told that on the day of the election, the commanders, their deputies, and officers should appear at the polling station at such a time that they would not meet the troops. Moreover, they should be exclusively in civilian clothes and not communicate with anyone who is related to the Armed Forces and who may be in or around the precinct. Having given this instruction, the leadership of the Ministry of Defense explained to the commanders that the purpose of this is one, so that the soldiers do not see their leaders and are not constrained unnecessarily. Spokesman of the RA Ministry of Defense Artsrun Hovhannisyan confirmed this information of ours, adding that the soldiers of the military unit were also told that if there is someone who is not interested in the elections, he can not appear in the elections, no one can and has no right to force him to take that step.”

“People” the daily writes. “The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Armenia has accepted for examination the draft of controversial amendments made on October 2 in the NA Rules of Procedure and the Constitutional Law. Do you remember that after the RPA, as well as the PAP and ARF, which were part of Pashinyan’s government at that time, hastily voted in favor of this project, a great wave of protest arose. RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan with the call, the citizens surrounded the parliament building. And the president of RA Armen Sargsyanin order not to aggravate the situation, he simply did not sign the project, sending it to the Constitutional Court to challenge its constitutionality. “Zhoghovurd” daily newspaper was informed that the case has been accepted for examination and the trial will start already in 2019, and the first hearing is scheduled for January 22. It was appointed by written procedure. The National Assembly was appointed as the respondent. But here it is noteworthy that the investigation of the case will begin when the powers of the parliament that adopted the draft have been terminated, moreover, it is possible that the RPA authors of the draft may not even be members of parliament. And it will turn out that the new parliament will answer the previous one for those who did. Although in this case it is clear that the new parliament, as the respondent, will help the CC to recognize the adopted project as unconstitutional.”

“Publication” the newspaper writes. According to a Russian source, Russian emissaries are in Armenia these days and have come to understand the situation. In Russia, they are worried that pro-Western and pro-Soros forces will dominate in the next National Assembly, first, of course, the “Sasna branches”, then those with a European orientation. Moscow considers several persons who have the reputation of a key Sorosian and appeared on the list of CP. They have serious reservations about such figures as Davit Sanasaryan and Babken Ter-Grigoryan(initiator of the Putin go f*uck yourself movement), are offended by the presence of figures considered to be Soros, Hovhannes Hovhannisyan and Sos Avetisyan (the latter was guaranteed by the Secretary of the Security Council Armen Grigoryan). The Russians confirmed that Avetisyan “came out” from the influence of “Soros” 1-2 months ago to enter the National Assembly.

“Realist” the newspaper writes. “While Artsakh and the army are divided in the campaign, in the true sense of the word, many internal Armenian problems are left out of the discussion. In meetings with citizens of different marzes, it is necessary to talk clearly about their problems, development plans for the coming years, but no, the campaign follows a completely different logic. This agenda is dictated by the government of the day and consistently promoted, in which only one force becomes a participant – the RPA representing the former government. Other forces participating in the election and society are in the role of observers. The RPA and “My step” are on the stage, they are crushing each other, from which the society has no benefit, and the more knowledgeable part, which demands ideas and vision, is disappointed. No one knows how the government will change his life in the next 5 years. Instead, he hears: calm down, representatives of the Artsakh government, we will throw the village heads out by the neck, we will spread the asphalt for a long time… However, this is not the only nail that the government will use in the campaign. According to our information, in the last days of the campaign, the levers of the government will be put into action, and the NSS will come into play again. A surprise file has been prepared, a report of the National Security Service, the National Security Service. They will try to show the public how many former officials they spread on the asphalt and what great discoveries they made! So don’t hope for programmatic discussions.”

“time” the newspaper writes. “Governor of Shirak Karen Sarukhanyan one by one, he invites the community heads of the region to his office and instructs them to work for the candidates of the “My Step” bloc. Moreover, the head of the village threatens that if his order is not fulfilled and “My Step” does not win a convincing victory in the given community, the village head will have problems with the law enforcement agencies after the elections. This is not a new approach, the RPA governors treated village heads in the same way, but they wanted 50-60 percent instead of 70-80 percent.”

“Realist” the newspaper writes. “Martunu Medical Center has not been able to choose a new director for a long time. The term of office of the previous one has ended, and the nominees are removed from the examination one after the other. Vigen Khachatryan, the representative of the Martuni territorial division of the “Sasna Tsrer” party, is running for the position of the director of the MC. “After the second round of the competition, he was also cut off, avoiding appeal in the prescribed manner. But a few days later, when the newly appointed governor Buy Sanosyanwas in their village on a working visit, he urged the villagers to block the road of the governor and put an ultimatum before him: either Khachatryan will be the director of the MC, or they will take more extreme steps,” said the source of “Irates”. He also stated that the issue has a political context, because Khachatryan is a supporter of “Sasna Trees” and is doing everything to steal votes from the ranked candidate of the “My Step” bloc, Governor Sanosyan. “The people of Martun are being provoked that instead of voting for Pashinyan, they should vote for Sasna Trees,” said our interlocutor. to settle, but there were some problems with the paperwork, and his departure did not work out. As he personally could not run, he proposed the candidacy of his sister’s husband to “Sasna Trees”. They did not reject Khachatryan either and included his son-in-law Davit Galstyan in Martun’s rating list.” It was also known to “Irates” that in Martuni and neighboring villages there is now a fierce battle between the above-mentioned two forces. The governor wants the issue of the director of the hospital to be resolved peacefully after the elections, and Khachatryan and his son-in-law are using the delay in the election of the head of the medical facility as a club.”

“People” the daily writes. “Zhoghovurd” daily newspaper was informed that currently 100-110 court cases are being heard daily in the RA Administrative Court with the request for the invalidity of administrative acts of the Republic of Armenia. Most of the fined citizens appeal the administrative acts in court, because if they are declared invalid, attorney’s fees are confiscated from the court. As a result, the lawyers provide interest and service to the drivers at the extra-budget expense of the traffic police. During the last 9 months of the last year, 1 million 461 thousand people were brought to administrative responsibility by the Central Administrative Court. 966 decisions. In the same period, 14 thousand appeals were made from the decisions made in the order of superiority. 74, by judicial order – 5 thousand. 838. “Zhoghovurd” daily found out that during the last 9 months of last year, 4,000 decisions were made by the court in the lawsuits filed against the CSO. Out of 55 judgments, 2,000 were issued against the CSO. 325 judgments, and here 1 thousand was made in favor of ЧО. 730 judgments. During the 9 months of the previous year, 5 million drams were confiscated from the CSO as legal fees. And there is a fear that this amount will increase and turn into 25-30 million drams.”

The President of the Republic Armen Sargsyan sent a congratulatory message to Salome Zurabishvili on her election as the President of the Republic of Georgia, wishing her work achievements and success for the benefit of the friendly people of Georgia.

“I sincerely hope that thanks to our joint efforts, friendly Armenian-Georgian relations will continue to develop and enrich in all fields, recording positive dynamics for raising the quality of interaction between the two peoples to a new level,” said the congratulatory message of the President of the Republic.