“Aravot” is disappointed with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s behavior on Tuesday during a visit to a customs terminal in Yerevan. The paper believes that he illegally ordered the firing of several customs officers and publicly humiliated one of them. “Nobody has the right to demand from any to ‘tender your resignation and quit right now,’” it says in an editorial. “This is not only a practice befitting the ‘old Armenia’ but also an illegal demand … The Armenian Labor Code envisages a special procedure for dismissal [of civil servants.]”
“Zhoghovurd” says that hate speech was a serious problem in Armenia even before the “velvet revolution.” The paper says it has become even more serious since transgender activist Lilit Martirosian’s April 5 speech in the Armenian parliament. “Some European countries have clearly defined norms against the spread of hate speech,” it says. “Armenia also needs a number of reforms, public awareness campaigns and legislative changes for eliminating discrimination and hate speech. It is essential to curb hate speech in its oral phase because it can easily degenerate into physical violence.”
“Zhamanak” says Pashinian’s inspection of the customs terminal demonstrated that he “bears the full burden of the state governance system.” The paper says that this system is still based on one-man rule. “This does not mean that there are no genuinely performing officials and figures apart from Pashinian,” it says. “There are [such officials] in both the government and the parliament. But for now it is evident that a state governance system does not yet function as such.”
(Lilit Harutiunian)
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