“Zhamanak” attempts to forecast the future composition of the Armenian parliament, asserting that the result of the 2012 elections to the legislative body in Yerevan will be largely determined by “external processes.”
“In other words, it will not be in Yerevan that the composition of the Armenian parliament will be decided. Of course, there will be deputies whose names the Armenian authorities will be allowed to decide, but the number of seats to be held by political parties will be decided in Moscow, Washington, Paris and perhaps in Brussels,” the paper claims.
“Hayots Ashkhar” asks senior member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) Vahan Hovannisian whether the holding of a major Council of Europe forum in Armenia shows that the European body’s officials do not consider the situation in Armenia to be “as hopeless as some try to present”.
The Dashnaktsutyun representative answers: “It is clear that there are some former Soviet countries where the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly would hardly agree to hold such an event. But it does not follow from this that Armenia has reached the European level of democracy.”
Commenting on the latest freedom of press index released by Reporters Sans Frontieres this week showing Armenia as improving its ranking as compared to the previous year’s review, “Aravot” attempts to show in its editorial that democracy and statehood are not directly interrelated.
The daily’s editor writes: “In all cases in terms of media freedom Armenia continues to remain in the lower division. And among the leaders are, for example, Finland, which, I’ll remind you, at the beginning of the 12th century did not have an independent statehood and gained independence only in 1917. And Iran has always been an independent state, but it is one of the last in this index.”
“Hraparak” criticizes Armenian Ombudsman Armen Harutiunian over his recent messages addressing “global” and “inter-ethnic” issues, including his letters to counterparts in Azerbaijan and Karabakh over the issue of a dead Azeri soldier’s body.
“It is clear that the ombudsman, who fails to defend human rights in Armenia, wants to justify his existence by trying to defend human rights at least in the region,” the paper writes tartly.
The “Hetq” weekly reports an unprecedented baby boom in one of Armenia’s villages.
It says 15 children have been born in the village of Voskepar in Armenia’s Tavush region and three more newborns are expected by the end of the year.
“Hetq” quotes the proud local leader as saying that the last time the village had such a birthrate was in the 1990s.
(Tigran Avetisian)
“In other words, it will not be in Yerevan that the composition of the Armenian parliament will be decided. Of course, there will be deputies whose names the Armenian authorities will be allowed to decide, but the number of seats to be held by political parties will be decided in Moscow, Washington, Paris and perhaps in Brussels,” the paper claims.
“Hayots Ashkhar” asks senior member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) Vahan Hovannisian whether the holding of a major Council of Europe forum in Armenia shows that the European body’s officials do not consider the situation in Armenia to be “as hopeless as some try to present”.
The Dashnaktsutyun representative answers: “It is clear that there are some former Soviet countries where the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly would hardly agree to hold such an event. But it does not follow from this that Armenia has reached the European level of democracy.”
Commenting on the latest freedom of press index released by Reporters Sans Frontieres this week showing Armenia as improving its ranking as compared to the previous year’s review, “Aravot” attempts to show in its editorial that democracy and statehood are not directly interrelated.
The daily’s editor writes: “In all cases in terms of media freedom Armenia continues to remain in the lower division. And among the leaders are, for example, Finland, which, I’ll remind you, at the beginning of the 12th century did not have an independent statehood and gained independence only in 1917. And Iran has always been an independent state, but it is one of the last in this index.”
“Hraparak” criticizes Armenian Ombudsman Armen Harutiunian over his recent messages addressing “global” and “inter-ethnic” issues, including his letters to counterparts in Azerbaijan and Karabakh over the issue of a dead Azeri soldier’s body.
“It is clear that the ombudsman, who fails to defend human rights in Armenia, wants to justify his existence by trying to defend human rights at least in the region,” the paper writes tartly.
The “Hetq” weekly reports an unprecedented baby boom in one of Armenia’s villages.
It says 15 children have been born in the village of Voskepar in Armenia’s Tavush region and three more newborns are expected by the end of the year.
“Hetq” quotes the proud local leader as saying that the last time the village had such a birthrate was in the 1990s.
(Tigran Avetisian)