“Aravot” takes a swipe at the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) and its parliamentary leader, Vahram Baghdasarian, in particular for branding outspoken opposition lawmakers as Western and Azerbaijani agents. “Viewing an opponent as an enemy is bad,” writes the paper. “Viewing them as a paid agent of your country’s enemy is simply terrible.”
“Zhoghovurd” says that it is still not clear what the opposition Armenian National Congress (HAK) and the Prosperous Armenia (BHK) and Zharangutyun parties will declare at their next rally slated for Friday. Zharangutyun’s Ruben Hakobian said on Tuesday that the trio is now trying to draw up a “roadmap to regime change.” The paper believes that it is simply “unserious” to attempt to end President Serzh Sarkisian’s rule without having such a clear plan of actions. “The trio has had plenty of time to form a common agenda,” it says.
“Zhamanak” says that Sarkisian has “taken a break” in the process of trying to amend the Armenian constitution. The paper points to last week’s official announcement that Sarkisian will not accept or reject constitutional reform proposals submitted to him by an ad hoc commission of legal experts. “This gives one reason to think that he is not sure about the success of the constitutional reform drive and needs time to understand to what extent he can press ahead with his plans,” it says. The paper believes that the president may also reshuffle his government and broader entourage in the process.
“Haykakan Zhamanak” claims that many goods imported to Armenia will become more expensive from January 2015 because of the country’s accession to the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. The paper dismisses as a “lie” government assertions that many of those goods will be exempt from the EEU’s higher import duties for the next several years.
(Tigran Avetisian)