“Zhamanak” reacts to the publication of a document that sheds some light on the Venice Commission’s response to the Armenian authorities’ efforts to reform the domestic judiciary. The paper says it shows that Armenia’s former leadership is now “closer” to the Council of Europe body than the current government. “It was always clear that former governing circles will use their experience and mechanisms of working with the commission for the sake of their political goals, including the goal of turning the commission into a platform for pressure on the authorities,” it claims.
Lragir.am notes in this regard that President Armen Sarkissian and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian met on Monday. “Armen Sarkissian and Nikol Pashinian certainly have a lot to discuss,” writes the online publication. “But the disclosed information received from the Venice Commission served as a noteworthy backdrop for their working meeting. It is evident that the former authorities … managed to use the fact for creating a necessary impression.” It speculates that Sarkisian’s meeting with Pashinian was a “preparation for the response” to the Venice Commission. It says the authorities should also demand explanations from the commission regarding the information “leak.”
“Haykakan Zhamanak” says that every government effort to tackle major problems facing the country ends in criticism of the former authorities. “One gets the impression that [the authorities] fight against the past, instead of looking to the future,” writes the pro-government paper. “The former rulers, for their part, are buoyed by that and say ‘see, we are the main rivals of the authorities, and every person unhappy with the authorities must stand with us.’ There are certainly objective reasons for constantly referring to the former rulers. The causes of all problems lie in the past … But there is also a second reason for that. In effect, what is happening in Armenia is a fight between the new and the old. A fight not between the new and old authorities but between new and old models of governance.”
(Lilit Harutiunian)
Facebook Forum