"Aravot" says opposition parties are right to oppose suggested changes in the Armenian electoral code that would allow Robert Kocharian to name many members of election commissions. But it also notes that major parties routinely sell their commission seats to wealthy candidates ahead of elections.
"Haykakan Zhamanak" says Dashnaktsutyun leader Vahan Hovannisian on Monday spoke at length about rampant corruption in the Armenian government but did not implicate any senior official. That was a "clear manifestation of talking just for the sake of talking."
"Azg" also attacks Hovannisian for being too vague on the subject.
"The majority of the public has been disillusioned and lost faith in the establishment of the rule of law and progress in our country," says "Or." The paper points to the recent street fight between Deputy Interior Minister Hovannes Varian and prosecutor Arsen Beginian. The law-enforcement authorities, it says, have so far not taken any disciplinary or criminal action against them. "If the same thing had been done in the same place by ordinary citizens, the diligent law enforcers would have immediately opened a criminal case."
"Iravunk" claims that Mushegh Saghatelian, the jailed former chief of Armenia's prisons, has struck a deal with the authorities that will allow him to walk free from the court. Saghatelian will be set free if he refrains from publicizing discrediting information about top interior ministry officials at his ongoing trial. The paper says Chief Military Prosecutor Gagik Jahangirian is "the deal's godfather."
Vahan Shirkhanian, a former cabinet minister who is now in opposition to Kocharian, tells "Haykakan Zhamanak" that the composition of the Yerkrapah Union's new ruling board was approved in advance by the presidential administration. Shirkhanian claims that 90 percent of Yerkrapah members stand for Kocharian's resignation and are ready to contribute to his removal. It is the union's leadership that supports the authorities, he says.
"Golos Armenii" says recent "anti-Armenian remarks" made by the Russian ambassador to Azerbaijan was "yet another sign of official Moscow's arrogance" towards Yerevan. "There are now sufficient examples that allow us to cast doubt on the wisdom of describing the Russian-Armenian relationship as strategic partnership," the Russian-language paper writes. "The Kremlin rulers' fundamental belief that the Armenians will not betray [Russia] devalues the Armenian factor, and the centuries-old history shows that our neighbors always benefited more from relations with Russia."
"Haykakan Zhamanak" attacks Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian for his recent remark that the Russian authorities are right to expel illegal immigrants, even if they are Armenians. Sarkisian said those Armenians should return to their homeland. But the paper says they won't heed that advice as long as people like Sarkisian are in power.
(Vache Sarkisian)
"Haykakan Zhamanak" says Dashnaktsutyun leader Vahan Hovannisian on Monday spoke at length about rampant corruption in the Armenian government but did not implicate any senior official. That was a "clear manifestation of talking just for the sake of talking."
"Azg" also attacks Hovannisian for being too vague on the subject.
"The majority of the public has been disillusioned and lost faith in the establishment of the rule of law and progress in our country," says "Or." The paper points to the recent street fight between Deputy Interior Minister Hovannes Varian and prosecutor Arsen Beginian. The law-enforcement authorities, it says, have so far not taken any disciplinary or criminal action against them. "If the same thing had been done in the same place by ordinary citizens, the diligent law enforcers would have immediately opened a criminal case."
"Iravunk" claims that Mushegh Saghatelian, the jailed former chief of Armenia's prisons, has struck a deal with the authorities that will allow him to walk free from the court. Saghatelian will be set free if he refrains from publicizing discrediting information about top interior ministry officials at his ongoing trial. The paper says Chief Military Prosecutor Gagik Jahangirian is "the deal's godfather."
Vahan Shirkhanian, a former cabinet minister who is now in opposition to Kocharian, tells "Haykakan Zhamanak" that the composition of the Yerkrapah Union's new ruling board was approved in advance by the presidential administration. Shirkhanian claims that 90 percent of Yerkrapah members stand for Kocharian's resignation and are ready to contribute to his removal. It is the union's leadership that supports the authorities, he says.
"Golos Armenii" says recent "anti-Armenian remarks" made by the Russian ambassador to Azerbaijan was "yet another sign of official Moscow's arrogance" towards Yerevan. "There are now sufficient examples that allow us to cast doubt on the wisdom of describing the Russian-Armenian relationship as strategic partnership," the Russian-language paper writes. "The Kremlin rulers' fundamental belief that the Armenians will not betray [Russia] devalues the Armenian factor, and the centuries-old history shows that our neighbors always benefited more from relations with Russia."
"Haykakan Zhamanak" attacks Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian for his recent remark that the Russian authorities are right to expel illegal immigrants, even if they are Armenians. Sarkisian said those Armenians should return to their homeland. But the paper says they won't heed that advice as long as people like Sarkisian are in power.
(Vache Sarkisian)