“Believe me, the president will declare a general amnesty [for jailed opposition members] on May 28 and your comrades will be free,” parliament speaker Hovik Abrahamian tells “Chorrord Ishkhanutyun.” “I promise you that.” The opposition paper says that with such statements Abrahamian is trying to show that he is concerned about the fate of the jailed oppositionists and is so close to President Serzh Sarkisian that he knows about the latter’s plans.
“Hayots Ashkhar” complains that Armenians are now unable to vote against all parties or individual candidates included on the ballot, saying that is the reason why many of them do not bother to vote at all. “Why are the voters deprived of such a possibility?” asks the paper.
“Haykakan Zhamanak” says that many in Armenia do not realize the depth of the political crisis in the country. “The crisis stems from the fact that the citizen, the individual is unprotected against violence,” says the paper. “Everything starts from here. “When violence reaches the political level, its perpetrator is keen not to rob and bully a particular person but to sends a certain message to every member of the society,” it adds. “Every person living in Armenia can become a victim of political violence and arbitrary actions. The question of what that person should do to insure himself against violence has no answer.”
“Hayk” says that the increasingly bleak macroeconomic data are making nonsense of Armenian officials’ assurances that the Armenian economy is strong enough to withstand the global recession. “Time has shown that the situation is much sadder than we could imagine,” comments the opposition daily. It cites President Serzh Sarkisian’s recent remark that Armenia has endured the crisis “without serious upheavals.” “Now even the official statistics can not hide the fact that the economic situation here is severe and close to collapse,” says the paper.
(Tigran Avetisian)
“Hayots Ashkhar” complains that Armenians are now unable to vote against all parties or individual candidates included on the ballot, saying that is the reason why many of them do not bother to vote at all. “Why are the voters deprived of such a possibility?” asks the paper.
“Haykakan Zhamanak” says that many in Armenia do not realize the depth of the political crisis in the country. “The crisis stems from the fact that the citizen, the individual is unprotected against violence,” says the paper. “Everything starts from here. “When violence reaches the political level, its perpetrator is keen not to rob and bully a particular person but to sends a certain message to every member of the society,” it adds. “Every person living in Armenia can become a victim of political violence and arbitrary actions. The question of what that person should do to insure himself against violence has no answer.”
“Hayk” says that the increasingly bleak macroeconomic data are making nonsense of Armenian officials’ assurances that the Armenian economy is strong enough to withstand the global recession. “Time has shown that the situation is much sadder than we could imagine,” comments the opposition daily. It cites President Serzh Sarkisian’s recent remark that Armenia has endured the crisis “without serious upheavals.” “Now even the official statistics can not hide the fact that the economic situation here is severe and close to collapse,” says the paper.
(Tigran Avetisian)