Politics in Hayastan

[Mher]

Re: Politics in Hayastan

Dashnaktsutyun Ready To Rejoin Government



Sargis Harutyunyan
Հրապարակված է՝ 19.01.2016

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) is ready to cut a new power-sharing deal with President Serzh Sarkisian almost seven years after withdrawing from his governing coalition, a leader of the party said on Tuesday.

Hrant Markarian, the de facto head of its worldwide governing Bureau, said Sarkisian offered Dashnaktsutyun to rejoin the Armenian government during talks with senior party representatives held over the weekend.

“There has been a proposal -- and we have accepted it in principle -- to the effect that we should cooperate in putting the [recently amended Armenian] constitution into practice,” he told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatyun.am). “But there has been no other [more detailed] discussion yet.”

Markarian declined to specify whether Dashnaktsutyun will enter into a new coalition before or after Armenia’s next parliamentary elections due in 2017. He did note, though, that “a real coalition can be formed after the parliamentary elections because parties should need each other for having a majority in parliament.”

Dashnaktsutyun was represented in Sarkisian’s government by three ministers until April 2009. They all stepped down in protest against Sarkisian’s Western-backed policy of rapprochement with Turkey.

The party known for its hard line on Turkey grew increasingly critical of government policies in the following years, joining forces with other opposition groups to challenge the Sarkisian administration. But it effectively stopped cooperating with them in late 2014 as the Armenian president pressed ahead with a controversial constitutional reform envisaging the country’s transformation into a parliamentary republic.

Dashnaktsutyun, which has long favored the parliamentary system of government, has strongly supported the reform. It disagrees with critics’ claims that the proposed constitutional changes would only enable Sarkisian to stay in power after completing his final term in 2018. It has also dismissed opposition allegations that the December 6 referendum on those changes was rigged by the authorities.

Markarian said Dashnaktsutyun’s return to the government would be in tune with its stance on the constitutional reform. “Today we cannot fail to bear responsibility for implementing that constitution,” he said. “That is why we are ready to cooperate.”

The Dashnaktsutyun leader seemed to acknowledge that a new deal with Sarkisian could be resented by many supporters of his party. “I do realize that in today’s moral-psychological atmosphere joining the coalition would not be beneficial for us,” he said. “But we now need the courage to share that responsibility [for government policies.]

“I see no other way of changing the situation in this country. We should change it both from within and from outside.”

http://www.azatutyun.am/content/article/27496987.html

[Haykakan]

Re: Politics in Hayastan

PROTEST IN FRONT OF UK EMBASSY IN YEREVAN

16:34 â~@¢ 25.01.16

A number of young people held a protest in front of the Embassy of
the United Kingdom in Armenia.

They protested against two anti-Armenian reports on the agenda of the
January session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
(PACE).

They handed a letter of demand to the vice-ambassador.

Young members of the For Law organization offered two glass jars of
caviar as a symbolic bribe to the vice-ambassador thus alluding to
Azerbaijan caviar diplomacy at PACE.

Activist Arman Ghukasyan told Tert.am that the reports on the agenda
of the PACE session pose threat to the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process.

"We are well aware of the reasons for the biased reports. We have
numerous precedents, particularly in 2003-2004, when Azerbaijan
was able to bribe PACE members, and we have decided to express our
indignation, hand over our letter of demand and offer a symbolic
bribe - two glass jars of red and black caviar. If British officials
love caviar very much, we have brought caviar for them to reject the
reports," she said.

The report entitled "Inhabitants of frontier regions of Azerbaijan are
deliberately deprived of water" by PACE Rapporteur Milica Markovic, as
well as the one entitled "Escalation of Violence in Nagorno-Karabakh
and Other Occupied Territories of Azerbaijan" by Robert Walter, is
on the agenda of the PACE session this January. The anti-Armenian
resolutions are to be put to the vote on January 26.

Tsovinar Kostanyan, another member of the NGO, said she evaluates
the reports as "encroachment upon the Armenian nation and statehood
and the native lands."

"We now have a generation which will never allow such a disgraceful
encroachment. We are ready to defend our motherland, and its
interests."

The activists were at the protests site with banners bearing English
slogans.

At the end, they agreed with the deputy ambassador to have a meeting
with him in his office to in case the reports receive approval.

http://www.tert.am/en/news/2016/01/25/protest-ambassy/1910473

[Zeytun]

Re: Politics in Hayastan

27 years after and people are still homeless!

[Mher]

Re: Politics in Hayastan

Dashnaks Reveal Cabinet Posts


Ruzanna Stepanian եւ Nane Sahakian
Հրապարակված է՝ 18.02.2016

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) confirmed on Thursday that it will receive three ministerial posts in Armenia’s government as part of a “long-term” power-sharing deal with President Serzh Sarkisian.

Armen Rustamian, a Dashnaktsutyun leader, told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) that Artsvik Minasian will become minister of economy while two other prominent party members, Davit Lokian and Levon Mkrtchian, will take over as ministers of local government and education respectively.

Rustamian said that Dashnaktsutyun will also name new governors of the western Aragatsotn and Shirak provinces. “You will hear about other details later on,” he said when asked about other government jobs to be covered by the upcoming deal.

Lokian and Mkrtchian already held cabinet positions before their party pulled out of Sarkisian’s governing coalition in 2009.

Paving the way for Lokian’s new appointment, the government moved on Thursday to split the Armenian Ministry for Local Government and Emergency Situations. “As a result of political cooperation, there has arisen a need to create the Ministry for Local Government and the Ministry of Emergency Situations,” Justice Minister Arpine Hovannisian told a cabinet meeting.

The cabinet approved corresponding amendments to an Armenian law on the government’s structure which were presented by Hovannisian. The Armenian parliament will debate and almost certainly pass them later this week.

The two ministries were merged into a single agency for cost-cutting purposes 18 months ago.

In Rustamian’s words, the upcoming government appointments will be part of a broader political accord between Dashnaktsutyun and Sarkisian that will be finalized “in a matter of days.” “We are now working on the text of an agreement on political cooperation,” he said.

“That agreement will be open-ended. We have already said that we are talking about not just an ordinary coalition bloc but long-term cooperation,” he added.

Echoing statements made by Dashnaktsutyun’s Minasian earlier this week, Rustamian said the agreement will spell out concrete political and economic reforms stemming from the recently enacted amendments to the Armenian constitution.

Asked whether Sarkisian and the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) are really committed to significant policy changes, Rustamian said: “That’s what the agreement is all about.”

Political groups remaining in opposition to Sarkisian dismiss such statements. One of them, the Armenian National Congress (HAK), claims that Dashnaktsutyun is only anxious to retain its modest presence in the parliament by benefiting from fraud and government resources in next year’s parliamentary elections.

http://www.azatutyun.am/content/article/27560048.html

[Zeytun]

Re: Politics in Hayastan

Panama Papers’s Armenia Disclosures Could Help the Country Address Graft

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/armine-sahakyan/panama-papers-armenia-dis_b_9684784.html

Panama Papers disclosures have put Mihran Poghosyan, head of Armenia’s Compulsory Enforcement Service, and two of his uncles on the hot seat.
Compared with the tidal waves of fury that the Panama Papers have generated in some countries, the revelations about Armenia have produced barely a ripple.

The disclosures that government officials and business tycoons around the world have used a Panama law firm to hide wealth overseas has led to the resignation of Icelandic Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson and to political crises for British Prime Minister David Cameron and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. They have also caused political consternation in China by implicating relatives of several top government officials and in Russia by implicating cronies of President Vladimir Putin.

The three Armenians named in the disclosures — justice-system official Mihran Poghosyan and his uncles Grigor and Mikhail Haroutyunyan — have used shell companies set up in Panama to obtain Armenian government contracts. That is at the least a conflict of interest for Poghosyan and probably a violation of Armenian law.

Like most officials in the former Soviet Union who are caught with their pants down on corruption, Poghosyan has denied doing anything wrong.

Despite the gravity of the Panama Papers revelations, Poghosyan and his uncles are unlikely to face prosecution in Armenia because they are part of the system, and the system is designed to protect them. They may not even obtain a slap on the wrist for what they’ve done.

The Panama Papers disclosures could have a broader impact in Armenia, however.
By increasing rank-and-file Armenian anger about corruption, they may finally prompt the country to get serious about graft rather than continuing to sweep it under the rug.

At the moment, the country has two high-profile government organizations that are supposed to root out corruption — but essentially do nothing.

The Panama Papers are 11.5 million documents that someone leaked to Germany’s Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper a year ago.
The sharing led to 110 news organizations in 82 countries investigating and writing about the Panama Papers disclosures. One of them is Armenia’s Hetq news organization.

The Armenia revelations are that Poghosyan, who heads the country’s Compulsory Enforcement Service, and his uncles own three shell companies that Mossack Fonseca registered in Panama, which is itself a tax haven. The law firm also registers shell companies in many other tax havens.

The Compulsory Enforcement Service ensures that all court judgments are carried out. That makes the chief’s position one of the most powerful in the Armenian judiciary.

The Panama Papers show that in 2011 Poghosyan owned two Panama-registered shell companies outright: Sigterm Real Estates and Hopkinten Trading. In addition, he was either a full or part owner of another shell company, Bangio Invest.

The papers don’t make clear the amount of his Bangio ownership. They also don’t reveal whether he still owns the stakes he had in 2011, or whether he has disposed of some or all of them.

The option that Poghosyan chose for holding the shares is the most difficult to trace, Hetq reported.

He had Mossack Fonseca arrange bearer shares for him. These carry the shell company’s but not the owner’s name. The issuing company doesn’t register the shares or track their ownership changes. So the owner of the shares is whoever has physical possession of them.

Poghosyan obtained the Bangio Invest shares in 2005, the Panama Papers show. That was before he became head of the Compulsory Enforcement Service.

He obtained the Sigterm and Hopkinten shares in 2011, after he had obtained his government position. This would appear to be a violation of an Armenian law that prohibits government officials from owning businesses on the side.

Poghosyan has used his hidden ownership in the shell companies to obtain Armenian-government contracts, according to Hetq’s investigation. This would have been impossible had the companies’ ownership been known.

Here’s an example: Two of the shell companies, Sigtem Real Estates and Hopkinten Trading, are 50/50 owners of Best Realty of Armenia.

Best Realty has received hefty fees for appraising the value of a number of high-profile properties that the Compulsory Enforcement Service became involved in.

The upshot is that the money Best Realty obtained on its Compulsory Enforcement Service work ultimately ended up in the pockets of the man running the service, Poghosyan.

So far the Panama Papers revelations about Poghosyan’s shell companies, and the connections that Hetq made between the companies and Armenian government contracts, have failed to generate either ethical or criminal investigations of Poghosyan. But at least one may be coming.

In early April, the national Ethics Committee for High Level Officials refused to look into the Panama Papers disclosures.

It maintained that someone needed to file a complaint with it before it could pursue an investigation.

That prompted Armenia’s Transparency International Anti-Corruption Center to force its hand by filing a complaint. The center is an arm of the international anti-graft organization Transparency International.

Armenia’s other anti-corruption body, the Anti-Corruption Council, which can look into and recommend criminal proceedings in graft cases, is also unlikely to go after Poghosyan.

Most of those on the council are government officials whom Armenians see as part of the corruption problem. Why would they pursue one of their own?

Although Poghosyan and his uncles are unlikely to face punishment for the Panama Papers disclosures, the revelations are likely to further galvanize Armenians who see corruption as a key reason why many people in the country are in poverty.

The disclosures are also likely to energize Western governments pushing Armenia to give more than lip service to its anti-corruption efforts.

Both the United States and the European Union have pumped money into the woefully ineffective Anti-Corruption Council, hoping it would do something.

If the Panama Papers disclosures can transform Armenia from engaging in the current anti-corruption charade into actually doing something about graft, they will have proved of major importance to the country’s future.

Armine Sahakyan is a human rights activist based in Armenia. A columnist with the Kyiv Post and a blogger with The Huffington Post, she writes on human rights and democracy in Russia and the former Soviet Union. Follow her on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/ArmineSahakyann

Our Soldiers Die protecting the nation, our diaspora sends their savings to help our nation, Armenians migrate for better wages and work, and these crooks steal our peoples money

[Joseph]

Re: Politics in Hayastan

Panama Papers’s Armenia Disclosures Could Help the Country Address Graft

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/armine-sahakyan/panama-papers-armenia-dis_b_9684784.html

Panama Papers disclosures have put Mihran Poghosyan, head of Armenia’s Compulsory Enforcement Service, and two of his uncles on the hot seat.
Compared with the tidal waves of fury that the Panama Papers have generated in some countries, the revelations about Armenia have produced barely a ripple.

The disclosures that government officials and business tycoons around the world have used a Panama law firm to hide wealth overseas has led to the resignation of Icelandic Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson and to political crises for British Prime Minister David Cameron and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. They have also caused political consternation in China by implicating relatives of several top government officials and in Russia by implicating cronies of President Vladimir Putin.

The three Armenians named in the disclosures — justice-system official Mihran Poghosyan and his uncles Grigor and Mikhail Haroutyunyan — have used shell companies set up in Panama to obtain Armenian government contracts. That is at the least a conflict of interest for Poghosyan and probably a violation of Armenian law.

Like most officials in the former Soviet Union who are caught with their pants down on corruption, Poghosyan has denied doing anything wrong.

Despite the gravity of the Panama Papers revelations, Poghosyan and his uncles are unlikely to face prosecution in Armenia because they are part of the system, and the system is designed to protect them. They may not even obtain a slap on the wrist for what they’ve done.

The Panama Papers disclosures could have a broader impact in Armenia, however.
By increasing rank-and-file Armenian anger about corruption, they may finally prompt the country to get serious about graft rather than continuing to sweep it under the rug.

At the moment, the country has two high-profile government organizations that are supposed to root out corruption — but essentially do nothing.

The Panama Papers are 11.5 million documents that someone leaked to Germany’s Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper a year ago.
The sharing led to 110 news organizations in 82 countries investigating and writing about the Panama Papers disclosures. One of them is Armenia’s Hetq news organization.

The Armenia revelations are that Poghosyan, who heads the country’s Compulsory Enforcement Service, and his uncles own three shell companies that Mossack Fonseca registered in Panama, which is itself a tax haven. The law firm also registers shell companies in many other tax havens.

The Compulsory Enforcement Service ensures that all court judgments are carried out. That makes the chief’s position one of the most powerful in the Armenian judiciary.

The Panama Papers show that in 2011 Poghosyan owned two Panama-registered shell companies outright: Sigterm Real Estates and Hopkinten Trading. In addition, he was either a full or part owner of another shell company, Bangio Invest.

The papers don’t make clear the amount of his Bangio ownership. They also don’t reveal whether he still owns the stakes he had in 2011, or whether he has disposed of some or all of them.

The option that Poghosyan chose for holding the shares is the most difficult to trace, Hetq reported.

He had Mossack Fonseca arrange bearer shares for him. These carry the shell company’s but not the owner’s name. The issuing company doesn’t register the shares or track their ownership changes. So the owner of the shares is whoever has physical possession of them.

Poghosyan obtained the Bangio Invest shares in 2005, the Panama Papers show. That was before he became head of the Compulsory Enforcement Service.

He obtained the Sigterm and Hopkinten shares in 2011, after he had obtained his government position. This would appear to be a violation of an Armenian law that prohibits government officials from owning businesses on the side.

Poghosyan has used his hidden ownership in the shell companies to obtain Armenian-government contracts, according to Hetq’s investigation. This would have been impossible had the companies’ ownership been known.

Here’s an example: Two of the shell companies, Sigtem Real Estates and Hopkinten Trading, are 50/50 owners of Best Realty of Armenia.

Best Realty has received hefty fees for appraising the value of a number of high-profile properties that the Compulsory Enforcement Service became involved in.

The upshot is that the money Best Realty obtained on its Compulsory Enforcement Service work ultimately ended up in the pockets of the man running the service, Poghosyan.

So far the Panama Papers revelations about Poghosyan’s shell companies, and the connections that Hetq made between the companies and Armenian government contracts, have failed to generate either ethical or criminal investigations of Poghosyan. But at least one may be coming.

In early April, the national Ethics Committee for High Level Officials refused to look into the Panama Papers disclosures.

It maintained that someone needed to file a complaint with it before it could pursue an investigation.

That prompted Armenia’s Transparency International Anti-Corruption Center to force its hand by filing a complaint. The center is an arm of the international anti-graft organization Transparency International.

Armenia’s other anti-corruption body, the Anti-Corruption Council, which can look into and recommend criminal proceedings in graft cases, is also unlikely to go after Poghosyan.

Most of those on the council are government officials whom Armenians see as part of the corruption problem. Why would they pursue one of their own?

Although Poghosyan and his uncles are unlikely to face punishment for the Panama Papers disclosures, the revelations are likely to further galvanize Armenians who see corruption as a key reason why many people in the country are in poverty.

The disclosures are also likely to energize Western governments pushing Armenia to give more than lip service to its anti-corruption efforts.

Both the United States and the European Union have pumped money into the woefully ineffective Anti-Corruption Council, hoping it would do something.

If the Panama Papers disclosures can transform Armenia from engaging in the current anti-corruption charade into actually doing something about graft, they will have proved of major importance to the country’s future.

Armine Sahakyan is a human rights activist based in Armenia. A columnist with the Kyiv Post and a blogger with The Huffington Post, she writes on human rights and democracy in Russia and the former Soviet Union. Follow her on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/ArmineSahakyann

Our Soldiers Die protecting the nation, our diaspora sends their savings to help our nation, Armenians migrate for better wages and work, and these crooks steal our peoples money

Is there any investigations or fallout with regards to Poghosyan? He needs to be neutralized.


I have to say though, Armine Sahakyan should share a jail cell with him though, she's an awful journalist and very anti-Armenian.

[Zeytun]

Re: Politics in Hayastan

Why Armenians are successful everywhere except Armenia

https://www.opendemocracy.net/can-europe-make-it/hovsep-khurshudyan/why-armenians-are-successful-everywhere-except-armenia

Armenia's current emigration rate of 4-5% of the whole population annually is the highest in the world. Considering the dire political and economic situation in the country, should we really be surprised?

One of my American colleagues who lives in Boston and always keeps in touch with the local Armenians, last year visited Armenia as a volunteer firmly intending to assist in fixing some social problems in Armenia. After working for more than a month in Armenia we finally met just before his departure to the USA.

He was sad and perplexed. “I know many Armenians living in Boston, New York and New Jersey,” he said, “they are very successful in their respective fields and live safe and prosperous lives. Many of them emigrated from Armenia during the last 15–20 years; and I treat the Armenians with admiration.

Now, when I have visited various towns and villages in Armenia, met people, listened to them about their and the country's problems, I'm just stunned. How is it possible that a country with such a talented and hard-working people, and such a diverse diaspora that sends billions of dollars to Armenia every year, can remain so underdeveloped and poor?”

Indeed, Armenia was well-known in the Soviet Union for its highly skilled population, its industrial, scientific and educational potential, and its healthcare. Now Armenia has become one of the poorest countries in the world. The average monthly salary in Armenia is $370 (USD), the average monthly pension is $90, and 20% of children under five years old have health problems caused by undernourishment.

Every investor planning a significant project in the country is obliged to donate a substantial portion of its investment to the current president's family in order to be able to operate without obstruction.

The economy is suffering under the yoke of the local oligarchs and Russian monopolies. The authorities have signed many disgraceful agreements with Russia, which force Armenians to buy gas and oil exclusively from Russia at the highest price possible, when oil and gas prices have fallen elsewhere in the world.

There is no serious local or foreign investment in Armenia not only because of the unfavourable economic conditions (some patriotic Armenians from the diaspora are ready to make substantial investments even in these conditions), but also because of the unwritten laws of systemic corruption. Every investor planning a significant project in the country is obliged to donate a substantial portion of its investment to the current president's family in order to be able to operate without obstruction. For example, the current president’s brother, Sashik Sargsyan, is known in Armenia as Mr. “50%.”

The systemic injustices and illegalities in Armenia, as well as the alienation of ordinary citizens from their own country's government, have led to widespread apathy and despair. People, who could develop Armenia, are leaving the country for Russia, Europe, USA, Ukraine, Canada and Australia. The current emigration rate of 4–5% of the whole population annually is the highest in the world and is simply disastrous. During the 25 years of Armenia's independence, more than 2 million people left the country, almost the same number of people who remain there today. Moreover, half of those emigrants left Armenia in the last 8 years, during Serzh Sargsyan’s presidency.

The government, through sophisticated and unlawful practices, has left the country’s citizens bare-handed in face of a mighty criminal gang that has seized power in Armenia. The people cannot affect this situation in any way and their participation in the elections serves as a smokescreen for the ruling clan to demonstrate formal conformity with the democratic standards imposed in Armenia by the West after the collapse of the Soviet Union. It is difficult to find another country in the world, where the ruling party has so many members with mafia-style nicknames

Today the authorities promote puppet “pro-western” parties, which are fully under its control.

On February 2013 the West turned a blind eye to the reproduction of Serzh Sargsyan’s power through massive electoral fraud, as Sargsyan had promised to sign the Association Agreement with the EU. But the previous four years of successful negotiation process with the EU was not a classic episode of the Eastern Partnership but rather a vivid example of eastern cunning aimed at getting support from the West during upcoming presidential elections.

The post-election protest campaign, organized by Raffi K. Hovannisian, who was actually elected as a president by absolute majority, was denied any political support from the West and gradually faded away. Just four months after the demise of this powerful anti-governmental movement, Serzh Sargsyan not only refused to sign the Association Agreement with the EU, but during his meeting with Putin in the Kremlin made a solemn pledge to integrate Armenia into the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU).

It is noteworthy that Raffi Hovannisian’s "Heritage" party was the only one, whose faction in the Parliament voted against Armenia's integration to the EEU. As a result the authorities worked incessantly to exacerbate the rivalries within the party and its parliamentary faction and eventually to eviscerate it. Now the parliamentary faction of the "Heritage" party essentially has only one member instead of its previous five. Today the authorities promote puppet “pro-western” parties, which are fully under its control.

On December 6, 2015, Serzh Sargsyan called a referendum on constitutional "reforms" and laid the groundwork to reinforce and perpetuate his power in a weakened Armenia. Currently in his second and final term as President, these changes are designed to enable him to retain power as Prime Minister or Speaker of the Parliament. No wonder that the results of the referendum were rigged. Thanks to the opposition and civil society efforts, the law enforcement authorities have had to file dozens of criminal cases on numerous electoral frauds during the referendum.

None of these criminal proceedings have been initiated as a result of the intervention by the Police or National Security Service. And this all happened despite the fact that the opposition parties are not funded from any sources, except the annual state financial subsidy of a mere 7–10 thousand dollars, which is provided by law (other sources of opposition financing, such as financial backing from business sector, are strictly forbidden, and carry penalties for the sponsors that can lead to their bankruptcy: we have such examples).

But even the court cases of the criminals who rigged the results of the referendum bring no results as they are released one-by-one after simply paying small fines; in fact the maximum punishment for such an offense as state capture in Armenia is a fine of $ 1000. And even if some will be imprisoned, certainly very soon they will be released under amnesty, granted by their main customer, the president, as has happened during the last years of independent Armenia.

Thus, in Armenia catching criminals and handing them over to be tried and punished is the direct responsibility of the opposition and civil society, while the absolute right of the authorities is to release those criminals, who will continue to falsify elections, capture the state, plunder the state budget, and simply sending to prison those who actively resist these electoral crimes. There are 13 political prisoners in Armenia today. This fact has been unanimously accepted not only by the opposition and human rights organizations, but also in Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum, which has urged Armenia’s authorities to release them many times.

The reaction of the West to the rigged referendum last December compared to the 2013 presidential election was tougher. The West, through the US Ambassador and the Head of EU Delegation to Armenia have demanded the punishment all the criminals, who committed electoral fraud, and prepare an electoral code with the involvement of civil society and the opposition, and thus take steps to restore public trust towards the electoral system.

But these statements have made little difference. Recently the Government of Armenia received a “yellow card”: on March 18, a few days after the publication of authorities’ anti-democratic draft of the Electoral Code, "Moody's" downgraded Armenia's long-term issuer and senior unsecured debt ratings from Ba3 to B1.

But the debate on the Electoral Code in Armenia shows that, even with pressure from the West the authorities will not be pushed to accept any real reform of the Electoral Code for one simple reason - election laws, which guarantee free and legitimate elections, will be the end of their power.

Many people in Armenia have been excited about the popular revolution in Maidan...

And any government elected by the people will uncover a long series of the economic and criminal offences, such as the mass shooting at the Parliament in 1999, the murder of 10 peaceful demonstrators in 2008, the falsification of at least 5 presidential elections, the extradition of a huge section of Armenia's economy to Russia for a low, sometimes symbolic, price, and the continual looting of the state treasury.

But if until recently Armenia’s democratic society has had no hope of a regime change in the country, now, in the light of economic and geopolitical weakening of the Serzh Sargsyan's main sponsor Kremlin, such hopes are beginning to revive. The opposition, supported by the civil society, will try to change the government for the first time in the history of Armenia and to establish a democratic regime.

In this regard, the situation has a number of similarities with that of Ukraine, and the current president of Armenia resembles President Yanukovych, the former ruler of Ukraine. Serzh Sargsyan enjoys the support of only 7–8% of the population and is widely mistrusted by the general public.

The Yanukovych precedent is instructive, particularly since many people in Armenia have been excited about the popular revolution in Maidan, as they were in 2011 about the Arab Spring. In Armenia the more or less positive attitude towards Russia that has existed for 20 years is taking some sharp turns.

The only factor that still keeps Armenia in Kremlin's orbit is the Turkish-Azerbaijani threat, expressed, on one hand, through the ongoing illegal blockade of Armenia by Turkey as well as the refusal by Ankara to ratify the Armenian-Turkish protocols, signed under the auspices of the USA, EU and Russia.

On the other hand, there are the statements by the leadership of Azerbaijan about the possibility of conquering the self-determined Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (the last one, by the way, according to the Freedom House index “Freedom in the world”, has much more democratic political system and more liberal economy than Azerbaijan). But even these factors will be unlikely to hold back the people when the last drop will overflow their cup of patience.

"It is enough to establish legitimate government in Armenia based on the people’s choice, and I am sure, that Armenia will blossom in a short time," said my American friend before leaving.

Armenians hope that this day is not so far.

NOTE: The article was written before the beginning of the four-day war in Karabakh at the beginning of April.

[Mher]

Re: Politics in Hayastan

oh God here we go

Armenia's current emigration rate of 4-5% of the whole population annually is the highest in the world

Even the most pessimistic estimates put it at 30K/year. That would be 1% and still less than many post soviet states, let alone highest in the world

a diverse diaspora that sends billions of dollars to Armenia every year

again with this sh-it. billions haven't been donated all together. Everything together since 1988 probably hasn't added up to two billion dollars. The earthquake in Gyumri alone cost 16 billion dollars in infrastructure damage. This doesn't include the fact that Stepanakert was rebuilt from the ground. That Armenia has one of the highest defense budgets per GDP in the world. That we fought the bloodiest post soviet war. That we had to rebuild our economy and infrastructure cause of the blockade. Do the f-ucking math people. That's why Armenia is not Sweden. That's why two billion dollars doesn't do anything.

Now Armenia has become one of the poorest countries in the world. The average monthly salary in Armenia is $370 (USD), the average monthly pension is $90, and 20% of children under five years old have health problems caused by undernourishment.

Is everyone really this dumb? Armenia along with Georgia and Azerbaijan are considered lower middle income countries. There are countries where per capita people make less per year than the average person makes in a month in Armenia.

Every investor planning a significant project in the country is obliged to donate a substantial portion of its investment to the current president's family in order to be able to operate without obstruction.

where? where is the God da-mn proof of this shi-t? I'll give you twenty different people who've started businesses, or implemented non profit projects with zero difficulty. In fact the government comes in and gives you a million subsidies and form of support to get you started.

The economy is suffering under the yoke of the local oligarchs and Russian monopolies. The authorities have signed many disgraceful agreements with Russia, which force Armenians to buy gas and oil exclusively from Russia at the highest price possible, when oil and gas prices have fallen elsewhere in the world.

Perhaps because Armenia paid the second lowest price in all of Europe because of it. Armenia sold infrastructure when the country was starving. Moreover it sold infrastructure to Russia just like every SINGLE other soviet country. Russia owns as much of Georgian infrastructure as Armenia

During the 25 years of Armenia's independence, more than 2 million people left the country, almost the same number of people who remain there today. Moreover, half of those emigrants left Armenia in the last 8 years, during Serzh Sargsyan’s presidency.

The population of Armenians in Armenia in 1989 was 3.3 million. In Yerevan alone 1.5 million people live today. Forgetting the failure of basic mathematics, are you going to tell me as many people left during war, famine, no electricity, and water-in a span of 16 years- as the last 8 years?

Many people in Armenia have been excited about the popular revolution in Maidan

there we go
el inch ases
azgayin davajan



I honestly can't handle reading this. The few things I quoted was what I was able to catch at a glance.

nothing meant towards you Zeytun. my angers toward the author, and really the general mentality in our diaspora.

[Shant03]

Re: Politics in Hayastan

I'm with Mher, goto Artsakh and you can see where all the money went from all those telethons. Stepanakert is brand spanking new with plaques on each building to show for it. America isn't any better, eta the TRILLION DOLLAR high speed train being built in California was granted to Senator Feinstein's husband's company. Him along with another thousands or so people also go by the term Mr "1%".



That American should focus on the issues here rather than visiting villages across the world and polluting the internet with his garbage uninformed and biased opinion.

[Mher]

Re: Politics in Hayastan

I'm with Mher, goto Artsakh and you can see where all the money went from all those telethons. Stepanakert is brand spanking new with plaques on each building to show for it. America isn't any better, eta the TRILLION DOLLAR high speed train being built in California was granted to Senator Feinstein's husband's company. Him along with another thousands or so people also go by the term Mr "1%".



That American should focus on the issues here rather than visiting villages across the world and polluting the internet with his garbage uninformed and biased opinion.

Haliburton annual revenue before and after Iraq



for anyone who doesn't know D-ick Cheney was CEO of Halliburton when he was nominated for VP. Halliburton got dozens of exclusive contracts in Iraq that weren't open to anyone else to bid on.