“Iravunk” says the Armenian authorities will not punish anyone involved in ballot-rigging in this year’s presidential and parliamentary elections despite the calls contained in the OSCE’s final election report. “No electoral fraudster will be punished because the regime can not punish itself. Besides, even if all of the OSCE proposals on reforming the electoral legislations are accepted, that will hardly reflect on the quality of [future] elections because no European structure can affect a voter who sells his vote for a bribe.”
“In the meantime, the European structures are busy expressing their satisfaction with the abolition of the death penalty in Armenia,” “Iravunk” notes disapprovingly. “But what is dear to the Europeans’ ears is causing mixed reactions in Armenia where the overwhelming majority of the population supports the death penalty.” The paper says the abolition of capital punishment rings hollow in the light of the recent wave of high-profile shootings in Yerevan and Gyumri. “Those [death rulings] are handed down not by courts, but by so-called ‘brotherhoods’.”
In a separate comment, “Iravunk” claims that some governing circles are keen to whip up popular resentment in an apparent bid to “prepare ground for a new redistribution of property.” But it says street protests, if they really take place this fall, are unlikely to get out of hand as Armenians have proved this year that they are “incapable of rioting or displaying political disobedience.” All of which leads the paper to conclude that “no major changes are looming on the horizon.” “It is very likely that nobody and nothing will change in the country because both the authorities and the population and, to a lesser extent, a part of the opposition have adapted themselves to the existing state of affairs. Change can happen only if disagreements inside the government pyramid come to a head or if there is substantial external interference in the country’s domestic political life.”
“Golos Armenii” denounces the recent privatization of Armenia’s state-run airline. Unlike in “normal states,” the paper writes, state property is not regarded as belonging to the people in Armenia. Instead, it is considered the exclusive domain of certain government officials or their protégés. It has been 12 years since they began dividing up something which had for decades been created by taxpayers. The airline privatization was the result of a “secret deal” which can not win public approval. “But why didn’t they announce in advance what and how they are going to do, as is the case in normal countries?”
(Vache Sarkisian)
“In the meantime, the European structures are busy expressing their satisfaction with the abolition of the death penalty in Armenia,” “Iravunk” notes disapprovingly. “But what is dear to the Europeans’ ears is causing mixed reactions in Armenia where the overwhelming majority of the population supports the death penalty.” The paper says the abolition of capital punishment rings hollow in the light of the recent wave of high-profile shootings in Yerevan and Gyumri. “Those [death rulings] are handed down not by courts, but by so-called ‘brotherhoods’.”
In a separate comment, “Iravunk” claims that some governing circles are keen to whip up popular resentment in an apparent bid to “prepare ground for a new redistribution of property.” But it says street protests, if they really take place this fall, are unlikely to get out of hand as Armenians have proved this year that they are “incapable of rioting or displaying political disobedience.” All of which leads the paper to conclude that “no major changes are looming on the horizon.” “It is very likely that nobody and nothing will change in the country because both the authorities and the population and, to a lesser extent, a part of the opposition have adapted themselves to the existing state of affairs. Change can happen only if disagreements inside the government pyramid come to a head or if there is substantial external interference in the country’s domestic political life.”
“Golos Armenii” denounces the recent privatization of Armenia’s state-run airline. Unlike in “normal states,” the paper writes, state property is not regarded as belonging to the people in Armenia. Instead, it is considered the exclusive domain of certain government officials or their protégés. It has been 12 years since they began dividing up something which had for decades been created by taxpayers. The airline privatization was the result of a “secret deal” which can not win public approval. “But why didn’t they announce in advance what and how they are going to do, as is the case in normal countries?”
(Vache Sarkisian)