“Zhamanak” is skeptical about Armenia’s new human rights ombudsman, Arman Tatoyan, and his ability and willingness to fight against serious human rights abuses in the country. The paper points to the resignation of his predecessor Karen Andreasian, the precise reasons for which remain unknown. It says that the root cause of the problem dates back to 1998 when then President Levon Ter-Petrosian stepped down without giving a detailed and full explanation for his move.
“Chorrord Ishkhanutyun” says that the Armenian authorities are behind the latest public calls for the consolidation of the country’s fragmented opposition forces. “In reality, everyone realizes that opposition unity is practically impossible,” says the paper critical of the government. “So why are they circulating an idea that will not be put into practice in one way or another?” Because, it says, the authorities want to make Armenians blame the fragmented opposition for its constant defeats in falsified parliamentary and presidential elections.
“There have been constitutional changes that are radically transforming the philosophy of state governance,” Ruben Hakobian, a parliament deputy, tells “Aravot.” “The opposition needs to play by the rules of political science, instead of doing what it is doing now: making statements all day long about the need close the ranks. But you can then see that everyone wants others to rally around themselves.”
“Hraparak” says that a village in Armenia was for years neglected and discriminated against by the central government because it unanimously voted for opposition candidate Stepan Demirchian in the 2003 presidential election. The paper says that the government started paying attention to local infrastructure only after most villagers agreed to vote for pro-government candidates and parties in recent years’ polls. “Now the village roads are fixed, the water supply sorted out, the school heated and its principal satisfied.”
(Tigran Avetisian)