“Chorrord Ishkhanutyun” mocks President Serzh Sarkisian’s behavior during a joint news conference with his counterparts from Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan that followed the latest Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) summit in Moscow. The pro-opposition paper says that Sarkisian showed the role that he will be playing at more such gatherings to be held in the future. “It is not quite a dignified role: a joker who does not have much to say, from whom nobody expects any serious messages, and who tries to please everyone with jokes and words of gratitude” it claims.
“Hayots Ashkhar,” meanwhile, attacks Armenian critics of Armenia’s membership in the EEU, saying that they expect “miracles” from the West. “They promise to build a paradise in Armenia right after coming to power,” says the paper staunchly supporting Sarkisian. “Where will they get money from in order to realize their programs? Where are their appropriate cadres? How are they going to establish a kingdom of law and justice and with whose money?”
“Aravot” urges the Armenian opposition to form a “team” that would act like a shadow cabinet or at least propose concrete alternatives to government policies. “Take, for example, education and culture, areas where the situation is unsatisfactory,” writes the paper’s editor-in-chief, Aram Abrahamian. “Unlike our politicians, I do not think that this is an area of secondary importance. By making that clear, an opposition party would declare that it has a particular individual who is not tainted with his past record, has particular ideas regarding that area and possesses a team capable of putting those ideas into practice. That would be more productive than the [existing opposition] race to harshly attack various officials.”
(Naira Bulghadarian)