“Zhamanak” reports that the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) will hold a convention in November during which it is expected to make changes within its governing body headed by President Serzh Sarkisian. The paper wonders whether the HHK will then support or undermine Prime Minister Karen Karapetian and his newly reshuffled cabinet. “The status quo within the HHK will definitely change,” it says. “The question is in whose favor. Will Hovik Abrahamian try to regain in the HHK what he has lost in the government or will he continue to lose ground in the HHK as well?”
“Hraparak” similarly sees a potential conflict between Karapetian and the HHK’s “old guard” opposed to serious reforms. “It is already obvious from the composition of the new government that the prime minister does not have much power,” claims the paper. It remains to be seen whether Karapetian will dare to take on special interests within the ruling regime. His public allegation about a “primitive theft” of government money has not gone down well with senior HHK figures, the paper says.
“Chorrord Ishkhanutyun” reacts to the government’s decision to cut its budgetary expenditure next year. “The new government is trying to portray this as a very positive move,” writes the paper. It says the planned spending cuts only prove that taxpayers’ money has for years been wasted by successive Armenian governments. It goes as far as to claim Karapetian has effectively accused the HHK of stealing 100 billion drams ($210 million) from the state budget annually.
“Aravot” makes a case for the dissolution of the Armenian Ministry of Culture. The paper says that this is very unlikely to happen not least because it would meet with serious resistance from “Soviet Armenian artists.” “They would write collective letters and allege that culture is being destroyed,” it says. “Needless to say that in reality, culture and arts develop or regress regardless of the work of any ministry.”
(Naira Bulghadarian)