“Haykakan Zhamanak” reports that Armenia’s outgoing parliament effectively finished its work on Wednesday after failing to make a quorum. “Deputies are already busy with election matters and can’t be bothered to come to work,” explains the paper.
As “Azg” points out, several important bills pending debate remain on the parliament agenda. Those have to do with political parties and public television.
“From the journalistic standpoint, it would be ideal if the next National Assembly did not convene at all,” editorializes “Aravot.” “Surely, having a parliament is a must for Council of Europe member states, and we are obliged to write on paper that we have a National Assembly, deputies and have held ‘elections.’ But since 1995, due to consistent and persistent efforts by our rulers, the parliament, as a state institution, has been reduced to nothing, destroyed.”
“Judging from the failure of efforts to unite the opposition, it can already been concluded for certain that we will not see a color revolution or even a serious attempt to stage it in May,” writes “Hayots Ashkhar.” “In effect, the absence of a serious political bid by the opposition and the resulting replacement of the bipolar opposition-government confrontation model by the everyone-on-its-own principle means that there will be ‘showdowns of giants.’” Those giants, says the paper, represent various wings of government, and the opposition will be irrelevant to their impending clash.
According to “168 Zham,” a confidential opinion poll has found that some of the parties supported by Robert Kocharian are highly unpopular. One of them is the United Labor Party (MAK) of Gurgen Arsenian. The paper says Kocharian now regrets mentioning the MAK among his preferred election winners in a televised interview last December.
“Zhamanak Yerevan” says rumors about the demotion of the controversial chief of the police department of central Yerevan, Hovik Tamamian, seem to have proved exaggerated. “In carrying out government orders nobody can match Hovik Tamamian,” writes the paper. “He is known as an expert in dispersing rallies and beating up demonstrators. So they could not have left a professional like him without a job.” In fact, says the paper, Tamamian has been promoted to become deputy head of a criminal investigations department at the national Police Service.
(Atom Markarian)
As “Azg” points out, several important bills pending debate remain on the parliament agenda. Those have to do with political parties and public television.
“From the journalistic standpoint, it would be ideal if the next National Assembly did not convene at all,” editorializes “Aravot.” “Surely, having a parliament is a must for Council of Europe member states, and we are obliged to write on paper that we have a National Assembly, deputies and have held ‘elections.’ But since 1995, due to consistent and persistent efforts by our rulers, the parliament, as a state institution, has been reduced to nothing, destroyed.”
“Judging from the failure of efforts to unite the opposition, it can already been concluded for certain that we will not see a color revolution or even a serious attempt to stage it in May,” writes “Hayots Ashkhar.” “In effect, the absence of a serious political bid by the opposition and the resulting replacement of the bipolar opposition-government confrontation model by the everyone-on-its-own principle means that there will be ‘showdowns of giants.’” Those giants, says the paper, represent various wings of government, and the opposition will be irrelevant to their impending clash.
According to “168 Zham,” a confidential opinion poll has found that some of the parties supported by Robert Kocharian are highly unpopular. One of them is the United Labor Party (MAK) of Gurgen Arsenian. The paper says Kocharian now regrets mentioning the MAK among his preferred election winners in a televised interview last December.
“Zhamanak Yerevan” says rumors about the demotion of the controversial chief of the police department of central Yerevan, Hovik Tamamian, seem to have proved exaggerated. “In carrying out government orders nobody can match Hovik Tamamian,” writes the paper. “He is known as an expert in dispersing rallies and beating up demonstrators. So they could not have left a professional like him without a job.” In fact, says the paper, Tamamian has been promoted to become deputy head of a criminal investigations department at the national Police Service.
(Atom Markarian)