“Haykakan Zhamanak” says that radical opponents of the Armenian government increasingly cite Azerbaijani media and pro-Azerbaijani Russian circles in their anti-government discourse. “Azerbaijani media write, for instance, that the ‘war criminal’ Robert Kocharian is again in jail and our so-called oppositionists enthusiastically disseminate that, forgetting to mention that Kocharian is under arrest for totally different reasons,” writes the pro-government paper. “This creates the impression that the Armenian authorities also consider Kocharian a war criminal and are therefore against the results of the Karabakh war and isolate war heroes in order to make territorial concessions [to Azerbaijan.]”
“Hraparak” says that even the harshest criticism is useful for the government because “we have witnessed many cases where even the most modest official changes and becomes an arrogant and self-righteous monster in a matter of months.” “But there is a boundary which [critics of the government] must not transcend,” writes the paper. It says that they must under no circumstances cooperate with foreign forces “at the expense of our sovereignty and dignity.” “No matter how unacceptable Nikol Pashinian and his government are to you, no matter how much you crave their departure … never do that at the expense of a loss of our country’s international authority,” it says. “And do not rejoice at sanctions taken against us or new dangers hanging over our country.”
“Zhoghovurd” reports that the Armenian government decided on Thursday to raise the minimum wage by 23 percent and make healthcare free for all citizens under the age of 18. The paper cautions that the fist measure will not affect many people because the vast majority of workers in Armenia earn more than the minimum wage. “But even consider this the initiative is welcome because employers paying the minimum wage will not be able to abuse citizens’ rights,” it says. The other government decision, it says, will cover more people. “The 1.75 billion drams ($3.7 million) allocated from the state budget [for free healthcare] is definitely worth it,” the paper goes on. “It’s just that children’s hospital must be able to confront this challenge. Why? Because whenever there is a slight outbreak of infectious diseases hospitals fail to cope with that burden … and refuse to take in child patients on the grounds that there are no free beds.”
(Lilit Harutiunian)
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