“Hraparak” suggests that one should not count on opposition consolidation ahead of the elections if even such an event as commemoration of victims of the 2008 post-election clashes cannot unite the opposition. “Armenia’s society hates consolidations around the government, but loves consolidations in the opposition camp. Such consolidations rekindle hopes in society for a better life. But in Armenia that happens only once a decade when things turn extremely nasty,” the paper writes.
“Chorrord Ishkhanutyun” writes that while people mostly remember the March 1-2, 2008 unrest when police used deadly force against opposition demonstrations, the main sinister event of that year took place a bit earlier. “An opposition candidate capable of winning in a presidential election had emerged and the authorities realized that… Now many have already forgotten that the March 1-2, 2008 events were the result of elections that were rigged in the most outrageous manner.”
“Zhamanak” sees the current government reshuffle and the power-sharing deal between the ruling Republican Party of Armenia and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation as a stage of ‘velvet revolution’ in Armenia. “Velvet revolutionary are unavoidable for the Armenian authorities. When legal, constitutional mechanisms of changing power do not work, then shadow mechanisms start to operate,” the paper concludes.
“Zhoghovurd” reports on the latest decision to separate the State Revenues Committee from the Ministry of Finance. “If the separation of the ministries of emergency situations and territorial administration was done for political reasons, which was subjected to criticism, then in this case one can hardly imagine any valid reason for the decision, except that there may be personal matters involved… [President] Serzh Sarkisian once stated that ‘we cannot allow this country to be reduced to a circus.’ But what is happening today can hardly be called other than a circus.”
(Tigran Avetisian)