Armenian newspapers carry commentaries on the 9th anniversary of the 2008 post-election violence in Yerevan which left ten people dead and many others injured.
“Zhamanak” says that for the last nine years political fallout from that unrest has been “diluted in the whirlwind of various developments and deals.” The paper says that opposition groups that were behind the February-March 2008 protests in Yerevan have collaborated with individuals or forces that they had held responsible for the bloodshed.
“Those responsible for the March 1 crime have still not been punished,” writes “Zhoghovurd.” “Some time after those events an ad hoc parliamentary commission and an independent fact-finding group were created. There were some revelations, including on the involvement of snipers on that day and the army’s participation in internal political processes.” Nevertheless, the paper says, Armenian law-enforcement authorities have long stopped investigating the March 2008 events. “One can only feel sorry for the victims as well as hundreds of injured and disappointed citizens who have left our country,” it says.
“Hraparak” says that the April 2 elections will be as significant as the Armenian presidential elections held from 1991-2013 given the country’s current transition to a parliamentary system of government. “If we had lived in a civilized country, all political forces participating in parliamentary elections would have found it extremely important to tell voters who their [candidate for the post of] prime minister would be,” writes the paper. “That would have made it easier for voters to make a choice and understand where that force would take the country.” It says that this is not the case in Armenia because its government is able to rig elections.
“Haykakan Zhamanak” reports that Armenia’s sovereign debt reached a new record high of $5.96 billion in January. “In January alone, our public debt rose by $27.25 million,” writes the paper. It notes that Armenian law forbids the government from borrowing more loans if its aggregate debt reaches a level equivalent to 60 percent of Gross Domestic Product.
(Tigran Avetisian)
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