(Saturday, December 8)
“168 Zham” says that Robert Kocharian never felt at ease in Levon Ter-Petrosian’s presence, both when he was the Nagorno-Karabakh president and Armenia’s prime minister. “It is enough to watch video of Levon Ter-Petrosian’s second inauguration [in 1996] and see with how much awe Robert Kocharian congratulated the reelected Ter-Petrosian,” writes the paper. “It would be naïve to think that Kocharian had no information about falsifications in the [1996] presidential elections and was sure he is shaking the hand of a legitimate president. Therefore, there is an element in subjectivity in evaluations made by both men.”
“Hayots Ashkhar” Ter-Petrosian’s entourage “continues to lie” to the ex-president about his high approval ratings. “In fact, the former president’s rating is 2-3 percent,” says the pro-government paper. “They lie when they say that the state apparatus and security bodies dream about taking his side, that his appearance has sparked panic in the government camp, that the people will take to the streets after February 19. They are lying, lying, lying.”
“Haykakan Zhamanak” dismisses the findings of the latest pre-election opinion poll reportedly conducted by the U.S. Gallup organization. The paper sees a glaring contradiction between the pollster’s claims that Serzh Sarkisian is in the lead and that almost 60 percent of Armenians are scared of expressing their political views. “It can be said that this is the kind of a situation that existed in Germany or the Soviet Union in the 1930s,” it says. “Talking about public opinion surveys in these conditions is simply ridiculous. This is the same thing as holding an opinion poll in Saddam’s Iraq.”
“Chorrord Ishkhanutyun” carries excerpts from a 2006 interview with Samvel Babayan, Nagorno-Karabakh’s former military leader who has harshly criticized Ter-Petrosian and signaled his support for Sarkisian. Babayan is quoted as saying that in 1999 Kocharian, Serzh Sarkisian and then Prime Minister Vazgen Sarkisian blocked his attempt to gain a controlling stake in an Armenian tobacco company and told him that they are “financed” by it. He said he then sold his 30 percent stake in the company to businessman Ruben Hayrapetian for $170,000. Babayan added that he has had no business interests since then and is only “helped” by unnamed businessmen who he said were better off during Ter-Petrosian’s rule and are now being “strangled by Serzh.”
(Armen Dulian)
“168 Zham” says that Robert Kocharian never felt at ease in Levon Ter-Petrosian’s presence, both when he was the Nagorno-Karabakh president and Armenia’s prime minister. “It is enough to watch video of Levon Ter-Petrosian’s second inauguration [in 1996] and see with how much awe Robert Kocharian congratulated the reelected Ter-Petrosian,” writes the paper. “It would be naïve to think that Kocharian had no information about falsifications in the [1996] presidential elections and was sure he is shaking the hand of a legitimate president. Therefore, there is an element in subjectivity in evaluations made by both men.”
“Hayots Ashkhar” Ter-Petrosian’s entourage “continues to lie” to the ex-president about his high approval ratings. “In fact, the former president’s rating is 2-3 percent,” says the pro-government paper. “They lie when they say that the state apparatus and security bodies dream about taking his side, that his appearance has sparked panic in the government camp, that the people will take to the streets after February 19. They are lying, lying, lying.”
“Haykakan Zhamanak” dismisses the findings of the latest pre-election opinion poll reportedly conducted by the U.S. Gallup organization. The paper sees a glaring contradiction between the pollster’s claims that Serzh Sarkisian is in the lead and that almost 60 percent of Armenians are scared of expressing their political views. “It can be said that this is the kind of a situation that existed in Germany or the Soviet Union in the 1930s,” it says. “Talking about public opinion surveys in these conditions is simply ridiculous. This is the same thing as holding an opinion poll in Saddam’s Iraq.”
“Chorrord Ishkhanutyun” carries excerpts from a 2006 interview with Samvel Babayan, Nagorno-Karabakh’s former military leader who has harshly criticized Ter-Petrosian and signaled his support for Sarkisian. Babayan is quoted as saying that in 1999 Kocharian, Serzh Sarkisian and then Prime Minister Vazgen Sarkisian blocked his attempt to gain a controlling stake in an Armenian tobacco company and told him that they are “financed” by it. He said he then sold his 30 percent stake in the company to businessman Ruben Hayrapetian for $170,000. Babayan added that he has had no business interests since then and is only “helped” by unnamed businessmen who he said were better off during Ter-Petrosian’s rule and are now being “strangled by Serzh.”
(Armen Dulian)