“Haykakan Zhamanak” says that representatives of the former ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) are upset with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s latest criticism of his the former Armenian government’s handling of the Nagorno-Karabakh negotiating process. One of them has claimed that Pashinian inherited “one of the best ever” peace plans on Karabakh and internationally-backed Armenian-Azerbaijani understandings on strengthening the ceasefire in the conflict zone. The pro-government paper dismisses these claims, saying that the peace plan cited by the HHK calls for Armenian withdrawal from “liberated territories” without an immediate agreement on Karabakh’s internationally recognized status. “If this is the best ever package then the HHK must officially state that it was and is still ready to cede the liberated territories,” it says.
“Hraparak” accuses the Armenian Foreign Ministry of breaching Armenian grammar rules to extol last year’s “Velvet Revolution” and thus please Pashinian. The paper claims that the new authorities are thus following in the footsteps of their predecessors.
Interviewed by “Zhoghovurd,” Mikael Zolian, a parliament deputy from the ruling My Step alliance, admits that he and his pro-government colleagues disagree on some policy issues and the Amulsar mining project in particular. “But I don’t think this is a big deal or that there is a danger of a split [within the bloc’s parliamentary faction,]” he says, adding that its members are free to express their opinions. Zolian also reaffirms his opposition to the Amulsar project, which is supported by other deputies representing My Step.
“Zhamanak” asks Suren Abrahamian, a former Armenian interior minister, to comment on a government bill aimed at tackling the “criminal subculture” in the country. Abrahamian seems supportive of the measure, saying that the new government is committed to enforcing law and order. But he also insists that notorious crime figures, known as “thieves-in-law” in the former Soviet Union, “have never been a problem” for Armenian law-enforcement bodies.
(Sargis Harutyunyan)
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