Billionaire Samvel Karapetian indicated on Friday that his Strong Armenia alliance and other major opposition groups running in next month’s parliamentary elections stand ready to respond to continuing arrests of their members with street protests.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s political team played down on Thursday Armenia’s mounting tensions with Russia and the resulting risk of Russian sanctions that could cripple the Armenian economy.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian claimed to have a warm rapport with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday the day after Moscow questioned Armenia’s continued membership in a Russian-led trade bloc vital for the Armenian economy.
Campaigning officially began in Armenia on Friday for the June 7 parliamentary elections which will extend or end Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s eight-year rule.
The French-based international organization Reporters without Borders (RSF) has significantly downgraded Armenia’s position in its annual survey of press freedom around the world.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian touted his economic record on Monday at a meeting with about two dozen owners and top executives of leading Armenian companies which some analysts linked to the country’s upcoming parliamentary elections.
Gagik Tsarukian, a wealthy businessman leading one of the main opposition contenders in Armenia’s upcoming parliamentary elections, has ruled out any post-election deals that would lead to former President Robert Kocharian’s return to power.
Armenia’s Ministry of Justice has denied that a leaked draft constitution published by a local news website represents the final version prepared by the government.
Armenia’s opposition “Strong Armenia” party currently sees no conditions that would allow it to pursue independence for Nagorno-Karabakh, even if it wins upcoming parliamentary elections.
The Armenian government decided on Thursday to spend 4.6 billion drams ($12.2 million) in fresh bonuses that will be paid to its senior officials and other government employees before the parliamentary elections slated for June 7.
Russia remains interested in having a stake in a planned U.S.-run transit corridor that would connect Azerbaijan to its Nakhichevan exclave through Armenia, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday.
An Armenian law-enforcement agency did not deny on Tuesday reports about the disappearance of its purported main piece of evidence against one of the three archbishops arrested last year amid Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s attempts to depose Catholicos Garegin II.
Citing continuing government pressure on its top clergy loyal to Catholicos Garegin II, the Mother See of the Armenian Apostolic Church has decided to hold a delayed emergency conference of its bishops abroad.
Armenian opposition leaders accused Turkey of meddling in Armenia’s internal affairs on Friday after Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan voiced Ankara’s support for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian in the context of his upcoming reelection bid.
Amid renewed Armenian opposition claims that he plans to open an extraterritorial corridor for Azerbaijan, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian remained vague on Thursday on a crucial detail of a relevant transit arrangement agreed with the United States.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has said that he succeeded last year in forcing Armenia to agree to open an extraterritorial corridor to Azerbaijan’s Nakhichevan exclave.
Prompting concern from press freedom groups, the Armenian government has moved to enact legislation that would ban broadcasters from airing reports or programs deemed “harmful” to national security.
The leadership of Armenia’s parliament on Thursday defended huge yearend bonuses that have been paid to its members and staffers, costing taxpayers at least 545 million drams ($1.4 million).
Armenia defended on Wednesday a new policy framework for deepening its relations the European Union which has been denounced by Azerbaijan as a blow to the Armenian-Azerbaijani “peace agenda.”
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian faced on Wednesday more opposition questions about his failure to accept newly disclosed peace proposals that were made by international mediators in 2019 one year before Armenia’s disastrous war with Azerbaijan.
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