“Zhamanak” notes that a senior member of Gagik Tsarukian’s Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) on Tuesday did not rule out the possibility of cooperation between former President Robert Kocharian and the four opposition parties represented in the Armenian parliament. The paper says that one of those parties, the Armenian National Congress (HAK) led by Levon Ter-Petrosian, has not officially spoken out against such cooperation.
“Chorrord Ishkhanutyun” reports on former Energy Minister Armen Movsisian’s response to Kocharian’s criticism of the possible sale of major Armenian hydroelectric plants to a U.S. energy firm. “Armen Movsisian’s main point was that during Robert Kocharian’s presidency the authorities sold the Sevan-Hrazdan hydroelectric cascade and the Hrazdan thermal power plant through the same mechanism,” writes the paper. “To put it simply, Movsisian indirectly acknowledged that the sale of the Vorotan cascade is illegal but insisted that Kocharian had broken the law in a worse manner in the past. This is a very healthy debate indeed. This is a rare case where both sides are right.”
“Hraparak” condemns the Armenian police for their perceived heavy-handed actions during this week’s demonstration in Yerevan against an impending 10 percent rise in the electricity price and the demolition of a 19th century building. The paper says that the police have further damaged their reputation.
“Zhoghovurd” reacts mockingly to President Serzh Sarkisian’s decision to appoint Yuri Vartanian, a former weightlifting world champion, as Armenia’s ambassador to Georgia. “Judging from the logic of Serzh Sarkisian’s diplomatic appointments, one may think that his ambassadorial choices are aimed at not offending people close to him or doing them favors,” writes the paper. “Yuri Vartanian’s appointment is noteworthy in the sense that when Vartanian worked as minister of sports and youth affairs he disgraced himself, to put it mildly, in his area of responsibility … Georgia is not a country of secondary importance to Armenia. It is our sole Christian neighbor, and the only road connecting Armenia to Russia and the other Eurasian Union member states runs through Georgia. If the legendary athlete demonstrates his ambitions in the new job the way he did in his ministerial capacity, our country will be guaranteed legendary failures.”
(Tigran Avetisian)