“Chorrord Ishkhanutyun” claims that President Serzh Sarkisian is “weakening Prime Minister Karen Karapetian’s positions from all directions” because the latter wants to retain his post after April 2018. The paper speculates that Sarkisian will either himself become prime minister or pick another “weak” person for that job after completing his final presidential term. “Simply put, by weakening Karen Karapetian, Serzh Sarkisian is grooming another prime minister who will be more convenient for him,” it claims.
“Zhamanak” claims that the new coalition agreement signed by the Republican Party (HHK) and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) on Thursday will help Sarkisian become prime minister in April 2018. The paper says that he will likely form a self-declared government of national unity that will rely heavily on “pseudo-nationalist” rhetoric.
“Aravot” says that after Sunday’s municipal polls in Yerevan Armenia will have no major elections for the next five years. “There will certainly be speeches delivered in the parliament,” the paper says. “But they will not be so frequent and grandiose. The National Assembly is not an election campaign arena.”
“Haykakan Zhamanak” says that Vartan Harutiunian, the head of Armenia’s State Revenue Committee (SRC) appointed in October, reported on Thursday a major increase in taxes and other duties collected by his agency in the last few months. The paper is unimpressed by this increase, saying that the recent scandal sparked by the smuggling of Azerbaijani apples showed that tax evasion at Armenian border checkpoints remains widespread. “Had the apples not been Azerbaijani, this situation would not have been exposed,” it says.
“Zhoghovurd” reports that the Armenian government plans to “optimize” public schools across the country due to a lack of funds. “Some schools have few students but maintenance of their buildings requires large sums,” explains the paper. It is skeptical about the government plans, saying that the authorities address instead the root causes of the country’s demographic problems.
(Anush Mkrtchian)
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