“Zhoghovurd” is scathing about the Armenian government’s decision to allocate an apartment to President Serzh Sarkisian and his family in view of the upcoming end of his second term in office. The paper notes that the former Armenian presidents, Levon Ter-Petrosian and Robert Kocharian, also received free housing from the state after their tenure. But in the case of Sarkisian, it says, one important difference is that he has been given a property that has long been part of a residential complex in Yerevan reserved for the most high-ranking state officials. “They allocated the house where Sarkisian lives now,” it says. The paper believes that the main purpose of the government decision is to make sure that Sarkisian does not have to move to another residence before becoming prime minister on April 17.
“Haykakan Zhamanak” also finds the decision “noteworthy.” The paper says Sarkisian “added a clear subtext” to it, which can be summed up as follows: “As long as I am alive Armenia will have no other leaders.”
“Zhamanak” says it is already clear that the prolongation of Sarkisian’s 10-year rule will be accompanied by anti-government protests in Yerevan. “The circle of their organizers is fairly large,” writes the paper. “It is not clear, though, whether they will join forces.”
“Chorrord Ishkhanutyun” says the current political situation in Armenia is “ideal” for Sarkisian. “Tens of thousands of people follow political developments through the Internet and discuss among themselves the question of whether or not a handful of wretched oppositionists will manage to gather several thousand people in Liberty Square,” writes the paper.
“Aravot” says that both the West and Russia are to blame for rising tensions between them. “Russia is an authoritarian, extremely corrupt and technologically and economically backward country,” editorializes the paper. “But these flaws will not be fixed with the [Western] sanctions and expulsions of [Russian] diplomats. Fortunately, the West is not urging Armenia to say ‘the Russians are so terrible that they poisoned Skripal,’ while the Russians are not forcing us to say ‘the West is so bad that it started a diplomatic war for no reason.’ What is more, they by and large agree on Armenia and cooperate within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group. Hopefully, this will continue.”
(Tigran Avetisian)
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