“Aravot” suggests that it will not be difficult for controversial Syunik Governor Surik Khachatrian’s son, Tigran, to get a medical certificate confirming that he has “mental problems” so that he can get away with criminal prosecution over inflicting injuries on another person. The paper’s editor reminds that two years ago Tigran Khachatrian was already cleared of murder charges as investigators found his actions to be “self-defense”. “But in that case a question arises: why did the Yerkrapah volunteer union [embracing Karabakh war veterans] awarded with a medal a young man who was exempted from military service because of having a mental disorder?” he queries.
“Zhamanak” cites Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian as saying that the army had presented [to the authorities] its position on the provisions in the draft constitutional amendments concerning the supreme commander-in-chief and mechanisms of army control and that at present everything is “at the stage of discussions”. “In fact, one of the key intrigues of the constitutional reform process is the attitude of the army. On the other hand, it is beyond doubt that in the government system many will try to diminish the role of the army by government decentralization and will attempt to neutralize the army as an intra-government pole. This shows that there is likely to be a standoff between certain government circles and the military in the matter of distribution of constitutional powers.”
In an interview with “Haykakan Zhamanak” Democratic Homeland Party leader Petros Makeyan claims that by changing the Constitution President Serzh Sarkisian, whom the current Constitution bars from running for president for the third time in a row in 2018, is seeking to solve the problem of his own political future: “Because in this situation the government has no way of reproduction. Sarkisian is doing this specifically for himself in order to “insure” himself for the next decade. It may turn out that the Constitution will not be changed, and Sarkisian will then remain prime minister. In other words, the third top official in the country. But he wants to keep that “top” status for good.”
“Zhoghovurd” writes: “According to official statistics, in the first half of this year $45 million less than planned was collected to the state budget in taxes and duties. Moreover, in the first half of 2015, revenues on the two main types of taxes – VAT and profit tax – fell as compared to the same period last year. But this is unlikely to be the result of the bad work of the Finance Ministry. It is obvious that the Tax Service in Armenia taxes the businesses as much as it can and even more. But if the tax revenues fall, then this situation must simply be conditioned by the general decline in the economy.”
(Tigran Avetisian)