“Government fans say that everything in Armenia has changed for the better, grumblers are sure that nothing has changed, while the government’s opponents say things have changed for the worse,” writes “Aravot.” “All three groups are wrong. In Armenia two things have changed for the better: the government was formed as a result of legitimate elections and it is not corrupt. These two standards are so important that one can speak of a phenomenal achievement for Armenia. What could have changed faster but has not changed is hypocrisy and the ruling team’s obligation to justify everything.”
“Haykakan Zhamanak” dismisses claims about the “political persecution” of former government officials and other critics of the current regime. The pro-government paper says that law-enforcement authorities are simply trying to solve crimes committed in the past. It deplores “terrible psychological pressure exerted on the law-enforcement system” by Armenia’s former rulers. “This is an overt attempt to paralyze and wreck the state law-enforcement system,” it says.
“Zhamanak” comments on the recent sacking of Grigori Hayrapetov, who headed a National Security Service (NSS) division in charge of the personal security of the country’s top leaders and their family members. It followed the dismissal of NSS Director Artur Vanetsian and police chief Valeri Osipian. The paper is worried that these sackings could demoralize lower-ranking law-enforcement officers and thus undermine the work of the state security apparatus. It says they deepened a perceived lack of “predictability” within that system.
(Lilit Harutiunian)
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