“Hraparak” joins other newspapers in lamenting the government’s failure to fully rebuild parts of Armenia that were devastated by the December 1988 earthquake. The paper claims that foreign assistance provided to the country in the last 29 years was enough for the complete reconstruction of at least the cities of Gyumri and Vanadzor.
“Haykakan Zhamanak” hits out at a parliament deputy from the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK), Hakob Hakobian, who said on Thursday that the latest hikes in the prices of some key foodstuffs in the country will not affect the poor because the latter could not afford those products anyway. Hakobian is also the chairman of the Armenian parliament committee on social affairs and health. Another HHK parliamentarian, Khosrov Harutiunian, similarly said on Thursday that low-income people have not been affected by the increased prices of meat because they have been reliant on potatoes.
“We will probably surprise Khosrov Harutiunian a lot if we assert that the poor in Armenia have become so poor that they have even started consuming less potatoes,” comments the paper. “This is a fact recorded by Armenia’s National Statistical Service (NSS), not taken out of thin air.”
Meanwhile, the HHK’s parliamentary leader, Vahram Baghdasarian, tells “Hayots Ashkhar” that poverty in Armenia is slowly but steadily decreasing. “That small decrease obviously doesn’t satisfy us,” he says. “More serious steps are needed to improve the situation. The government is now pursuing a new policy. Instead of using budgetary funds for raising salaries and pensions, it attaches greater importance to ensuring economic stability and laying the foundations for economic growth.”
(Tigran Avetisian)