THE MINISTER WORRIED THE COMMAND
Lragir.am
9 Aug 06
The command of the Armed Forces of Armenia are seriously worried
about the prospect of political activities of the defense minister.
The Lragir has learned that the command of the Armed Forces, as well as
the veterans of the Karabakh war think that the political activities
of the defense minister may threaten the activities of the army,
as well as the defense of the country. They are also worried that
the defense minister is ready to make any deal to come to power,
particularly, in connection with the problem of Karabakh. We have
learned that the army command and the veterans of war are likely to
turn to the intelligentsia to discuss the possible ways of separating
the defense minister from the army.

THIS IS NOT TYPICAL OF A NORMAL COUNTRY
Lragir.am
9 Aug 06
Felix Khachatryan, the representative of Ardarutiun Alliance to the
Central Election Committee, announced August 8 in connection with
the assassination of Alexander Givoyev that this is not typical of a
normal country. Like in the case of assassination of Sedrak Zatikyan,
this time too an innocent person was killed. Felix Khachatryan thinks,
“The killers will not be found, and this will encourage them.” And they
will not be found because “they do not want to be found. Since October
27 everyone was found, everything was known from the beginning.”
Felix Khachatryan thinks those who find the killers but do not announce
about it later use these killers to reach their aims. And if they do
not want the case to be revealed, there is a phone call from above,
“hey body, they say this case cannot be discovered, eh?”. According
to Felix Khachatryan, this is a signal that they do not want to have
this case revealed.

ADMINISTRATIVE-CRIMINAL CONSOLIDATION THREATENS NATIONAL SECURITY
Lragir.am
9 Aug 06
The administrative-criminal community, which formalized its aspirations
on July 22, is ready to sacrifice even the most important national and
public issue to establish their right to rule. The former foreign
minister of Armenia Alexander Arzumanyan has this opinion, who
commented on the possible developments in the political sphere for
the Lragir. He believes that this government pole already threatens
the national security of Armenia.
Mr. Arzumanyan, on the eve of elections in Armenia we have always
witnessed mobilization of the resources of power, so what is the
reason of such an unprecedented reaction to the Republican Party –
Serge Sargsyan consolidation?
Alexander Arzumanyan: The corrupt officials and the criminal business
rounding up around the defense minister and capturing the ruling body
of the Republican Party is an action that threatens the national
security of Armenia. It is apparent that another plan to foil the
election and seize power through criminal terror is prepared.
The possibility of implementation of such an anti-state action is
directly connected with the behavior of Robert Kocharyan. The eight
years of struggle against the law through criminal methods have turned
the institution of presidential power the prisoner of the machine of
common terror as the term of office of Kocharyan is coming to its end.
In order to establish absolute rule over the government system, this
political and criminal co-existence wants to make Kocharyan recognize
its “right” to control this machine freely.
What should Robert Kocharyan do in your opinion, is he able not
to recognize the right of the criminal he relied on all through
his office?
Kocharyan does not have the right to ignore the interests of the
society, replacing them with his personal interests and the problem
of insuring his own future. Moreover, coming to power with a mask
of a guarantor of the settlement of the Karabakh conflict, Robert
Kocharyan has turned the fate of the people of Nagorno Karabakh into
a target for the political aspirations of the criminal system he had
created. By consistently overlooking the process of criminalization
of the political sphere he, in fact, pushes forward the processes
undermining the state.
Choosing the Karabakh issue as a sphere for causing a home political
crisis, the criminal are ready to sacrifice the fate of the people
of Karabakh as well. The “successful” attempt at seizing power in
1998 dazzled this criminal union in Armenia, and what is more, it has
dazzled Arkady Ghukasyan, who is concerned about prolonging the term
of his office, thus automatically favoring these plans.
Robert Kocharyan witnesses this. The society and the political forces
worried about the future of Armenia cannot allow Robert Kocharyan to
solve his personal problems at the expense of the interests of the
publics of Armenia and Artsakh.

EITHER GAMBIT OR NOTHING
Lragir.am
9 Aug 06
After the unification of the Republican Party and Serge Sargsyan
absolute power in the country went to the Republican junta. On August
9 Davit Hakobyan, the leader of the Marxist Party thus described the
home political processes in Armenia at the Pastark Club. “After 1998
this is the second time that the military machine and the sanction
machine are annexed by a political party which is a majority in the
parliament and the executive,” says Davit Hakobyan.
It is interesting to hear the description of the extraordinary
conference of the Republican Party by Davit Hakobyan, defining it as
a court coup. “It is called bonapartism, juntism, blancism, political
adventurousness,” says Davit Hakobyan. Besides defining the present, he
also forecasts the future. According to Davit Hakobyan, Serge Sargsyan
will not be Serge Sargsyan if he does not start the autumn session
with a gambit, stepping up an offensive for the post of president.
“The question will occur to you if I am mistaken in my prognoses, and
I will answer like Hegel, the worse for them. Because today there are
the most convenient, favorable conditions before the campaign of the
parliamentary election, when today all the levers are in the hand of
the Republican junta, it is impossible to imagine a more convenient
moment after the parliamentary election,” says Davit Hakobyan. He
thinks that it would be political idiotism to postpone the gambit
until after the parliamentary election.
“And today the historical moment, especially that the international
diplomacy prompts that the diplomatic stage of the Artsakh issue came
to a crash, and today the republic needs a diplomatic time out, for at
least a year is left for Bush to finish his career and in late 2007
we will see Hillary Clinton at the post of president of the United
States to reach a turnaround in the policy of the Near East. In this
connection, the republic badly needs a diplomatic time out, and it
is a pre-condition, the underlying precondition for the resignation
of the president,” the first Marxist of Armenia makes a forecast of
developments from the aspect of the international situation.
Besides, he thinks that the Republican Party should not allow
“its opponents to become established until May, expand and become
strong.” According to Davit Hakobyan, nobody can guarantee that after
the election in May the army and the administrative resource will
remain under the control of the Republican Party.
“Either Serge Sargsyan will become president until January or will not
become president at all,” says Davit Hakobyan. If Robert Kocharyan does
not resign from the post of president until January, Davit Hakobyan
thinks it will cause a controversy between the president and the
defense minister, and the third force will benefit from it. If we
assume that the Marxist is not the ally of the president and Serge
Sargsyan as he tries to prove by his behavior of an oppositionist,
it should be supposed that he is one of the forces who may benefit
from the controversy between the president and the defense minister. In
this case, it is more than surprising that instead of waiting until the
failure of his opponent, the Republican junta, Marxist Davit Hakobyan
prompts the best way for the Republican Party and Serge Sargsyan.
“It is not a matter of prompting or political dividends. It is a matter
of prognosis of events and developments. First, a political figure,
who does not assess duly his opponents, can never defeat them. Second,
I prompt them in order for them to make their action more simple and
definite. This is also a political manner. You are right, I prompt
that they are going to miss the chance and when their action is clear,
we will clarify our steps too. This is a call for a game. A political
figure is a player, and politics is a game with its own risk and fear,”
says Davit Hakobyan.
But even in this case it is difficult to guess what kind of a game
the chief Marxist of the country is playing, whether he prompts Serge
Sargsyan the right way or he prompts Robert Kocharyan what the way of
Serge Sargsyan will be. The vagueness of the tactics of the Marxist
is not so important for the public, meanwhile his unclear game may
have a deciding role for the force Davit Hakobyan prompts. After all,
the president may think that Hakobyan is prompting Serge, and Serge
may think that Hakobyan is prompting the president. In this case,
his prompting is not worth anything because it does not give rise to
anything but suspicion. But one must not exclude the possibility that
the purpose of the Marxist is to arouse doubts. However, he should
be cautious. After all, the president and the defense minister may
start suspecting the Marxist rather than each other.

“IT’S DIFFICULT TO TAKE PEOPLE’S VOTES”
Margaret Yesayan
Aravot.am
05 Aug 06
“People’s deputy” group member Hakob Hakobian thinks.
* Mr. Hakobian, what did make you join “Republican” Party being a
non-party politician before when it was speaking about ”People’s
deputy” group and “Union in Favor Armenia” close collaboration?
* It isn’t secret that according to the new “electoral Code” the number
of deputies who are elected in majority system reduces. Eight years
of parliamentary work experience showed that you must represent any
political power for your effective activities. After long and detailed
discussions we, the members of “People’s deputy” group decided to
join the “Republican”. And nowadays, 10 members of the group from 16
are RPA members.
* For your decision, Lyova Khachatrian and Vahram Baghdasarian found
themselves in a tight corner.
* I have with friendly relations and it will never prevent coming
political fight.
* There are affirmations that some politicians join that party not
for love of Njdeh but the problem of solving own problems.
* I don’t know who and what will lose, but I know a thing: I
have taken part in three elections and my rival has always been
Republican. I haven’t lost anything, I have acquired what I have
and they shouldn’t declare if a person isn’t a politician or doesn’t
represent any party he is unable to achieve anything. It isn’t so,
as we have 15020 thousands of people who are engaged in a serious
business, pay taxes to the state.
* Would you and the members from your group join Republican if the
defense minister didn’t join?
* Defense minister hasn’t discussed that question with us.
“People’s deputy” group has made that decision.
* In your opinion, what kind will elections 2007 be, especially when
we used to see rigged and unfair elections for many years.
Now it is obvious that the fight will pass between authority powers,
it seems there is no place for the opposition.
* I think the opposition is the part of authority, and there are two
ways for authority reproduction: elections or revolution. We have
chosen the election, and both the authority and the opposition must
be reproduced. Of course, we need in people’s vote for reproduction
but it isn’t so easy. People know very well in favor of whom they
must vote. In general, I don’t believe in fair elections, just the
U.S. last elections showed that there aren’t fair elections as the
U.S. people were dissatisfied.
Thousands of people who vote can’t be mistaken, thousands of people
who work in the commissions also can’t be mistaken.
People must vote themselves to understand what to expect from their
candidate.
–Boundary_(ID_6zmyIShibdlF/2tEg sdW0A)–

LET BILL NOT HEAR ANYTHING
Lragir.am
9 Aug 06
The leader of the Marxists of Armenia, namely the Marxist Party Davit
Hakobyan sympathizes with Hillary Clinton. He stated this at the
Pastark Club on August 9. The leader of the Marxist Party announced
that he does not doubt that Bush will be replaced by Hillary in 2008.
Hakobyan also thinks that if Hillary comes to power, they will come to
power in Armenia. Nobody managed to smile at Hakobyan’s idea because
he was the first to smile after these words, he smiled even while he
was uttering these words. Although, it is not clear what made Davit
Hakobyan laugh, the words about Hillary or the Marxists.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

FORMER PRIME MINISTERS RUNNING FOR POWER
Lragir.am
9 Aug 06
The leader of the Marxist Party of Armenia Davit Hakobyan announced
August 9 at the Pastark Club that the opposition of Armenia is not even
worth talking about. The reason is, according to the chief Marxist,
that the opposition is unable to come together but it is also devoid
of an ideology.
“Look at the opposition. Five former prime ministers are running for
power, from Khosrov Harutiunyan to Darbinyan Armen, Vazgen Manukyan,
and so on and so forth. Hence, a question occurs if these people have
been denied by the society, where they are going. It is a revenge,
not more. An opposition is an opposition if it has an alternative
ideology,” says Davit Hakobyan.
He reacts similarly to the activity and return of the All-Armenian
Movement, saying that the time of the guys of outdoor meetings
is over. “I think the society is against their entrance into
politics. From today’s Republican Party to the All-Armenian
Movement, all are the same fake democrats, different political
mutations. The same Republicans, the same so-called Liberals, are
all the metamorphoses of the AAM,” announces the follower of Marx.
According to him, the moral and political decay of the country has
reached a degree that threatens to demolish Armenians as a nation. In
these circumstances, the Marxist can see a series of new necessities
instead of the old and present forces.
“Today a new ideological change of the generation is necessary, for
the sake of the national and the biological security of the ethnic
gene pool. Second, a new concept of biological security is necessary,
third a new national concept is necessary, fourth, a new agrarian
policy is necessary, sixth, a new right to vote, a universal right
to vote is necessary, and seventh, a new constitution is necessary,”
says Davit Hakobyan.
He states that he does not aspire to being the candidate of the new,
but he assures that Marxism answers all the questions of Armenia.
Davit Hakobyan assures that students are fascinated by Marx’s
“Capital”. However, Davit Hakobyan is not hopeful about such frank
devotion. At any rate, he is not convinced that he will conquer the
parliament. He says they will run for parliament alone but even if
they do not gather 5 percent, they will not get depressed because the
mandate is not important for them, it is important to serve the nation.

THEY ARE RELUCTANT TO RETURN TO ARMENIA
Lragir.am
9 Aug 06
Money transfers to Armenia will total 1.1 billion drams in 2006,
forecasts the Central Bank. This forecast is based on the results of
the survey conducted from February to April, which was published on
August 9. The survey suggests that in 2005 the households of Armenia
received 940 billion dollars from abroad. The survey was conducted
to evaluate the transfers and forecast tendencies. And this very
forecast suggests that money transfers in 2006 will total 1.1 billion
drams. The survey was conducted among people who transfer money, and
85 percent said transfers would continue. It is interesting that 28
percent of Armenian respondents in Moscow suggests that 28 percent
will not work in Armenia on any conditions, and 44 percent said they
would work in Armenia only for a salary of 300-1000 dollars.

CENTRAL BANK CAN BE DISSOLVED
James Hakobyan
Lragir.am
9 Aug 06
It is known to every citizen of Armenia that the Central Bank of
the Republic of Armenia is not related with the exchange rate of the
dollar. The Central Bank is only for finding clarifications or excuses
for the depreciation of the dollar, which it does with great devotion,
it is unclear to whom.
On August 9 the Central Bank held an event, which has little direct
relation to the exchange rate of the dollar. And before the event the
press secretary of the Central Bank even told the news reporters not to
ask questions about the exchange rate because the topic is different,
and the speakers are not competent in the exchange rate.
And the topic was foreign money transfers. The Central Bank conducted
a survey with the help of the World Bank to assess the transfers. The
survey, the results of which were presented to news reporters, involved
households, the persons who make transfers and the companies, which
provide transfers. The survey was conducted in the months of February
to April in 2006.
And why are they presenting the results four months later? Well,
sure, they were summing them up. They asked for three months and
summed up for four months. And they finished now when the exchange
rate of the dollar is dropping fast, and naturally the society wants
to know why or due to who. And this is the best moment to tell how
big the influx of transfers to Armenia is, which naturally has an
impact on the exchange rate of the dollar, because the dollar is also
a product, and if there is too much of it, the price drops. This is
only our supposition, of course, but the Central Bank would not tell
everything. We are supposed to realize some things ourselves. And the
Central Bank merely says 37 percent of households in Armenia receive
foreign money transfers, mainly from Russia and the United States.
The receivers of money transfers said they spend the money for
everyday expenses.
Imagine that one third of the population of Armenia live on the money
they get from their relatives abroad, and do not even save it, spending
about 80 percent on everyday needs. In the meantime, the government of
Armenia does not worry that over one third of households in Armenia
are being robbed. Plus the people whose income is in Armenia but in
dollars or drams equal to the exchange rate, it is apparent that over
half of the population of Armenia is impoverished, and the government
calmly follows the process. One should not exclude that it also calmly
benefits from it.
We should also add people who get transfers, which are not reported
anywhere because these are delivered from hand to hand. Considering
this, we will see that over half of the population of Armenia suffers
from the dropping exchange rate of the dollar. The problem is that
the revaluation of the dram does not improve the state of people who
get income in drams. The income of these people remains the same,
whereas the prices in drams soar. Hence, the monetary and loan policy
of the government does not favor anyone.
It should also be taken into account that several hundreds of
thousand pensioners, whose income is in drams, and who are the
favorite example of the Central Bank, in reality live on the money
they get from abroad. In other words, it is hard to believe that over
70 percent of the population of Armenia gets income or more exactly
lives on the income they get in Armenia. Therefore, the Central Bank
should do the contrary rather, ask for three months and count for
four months. And generally, it will be better if the Central Bank
neither asks, nor counts, and dissolves as soon as possible. Anyway,
the dollar will float without the help of the Central Bank.

IN 2005 ARMENIAN HOUSEHOLDS RECEIVE REMITTANCES OF 940 MLN USD FROM ABROAD
Noyan Tapan
Aug 09 2006
YEREVAN, AUGUST 9, NOYAN TAPAN. In 2005, Armenian households received
remittances equivalent to about 940 mln USD, 97% of this amount was
in dollars.
Karine Karapetian, head of the Foreign Section Statistics Unit of the
Central Bank of Armenia (CBA’s) Statsitical Department, stated this
during a press conference today. 37% of Armenian households, mainly
citizens of the middle class, whose average monthly income exceeds
the minimum consumer basket of 12,467 drams, receive remittances. The
share of the poor and the extremely poor is large in the number
of remittance recipients, with the extremely poor accounting for
a small part of recipients. According to K. Karapetian, the above
mentioned indices were evaluated as a result of a survey conducted in
February-April 2006. She said that residents of Yerevan make up 34%
of those receiving remittances. Remittances are mainly sent from Russia
(72%) and the US (14%).
Among other countries are Germany, Greece, Ukraine, from which 5% of
remittances come. 31% of remittances are from those engaged in seasonal
work abroad, while 69% – from relatives and other persons living in a
foreign country. The speaker noted that the majority of those who send
remittances to Armenia are engaged in construction and trade abroad.