Interviewed by “Hayots Ashkhar,” Hovannes Sahakian, a senior member of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK), reiterates the Armenian government’s rejection of key opposition proposals on the new Electoral Code which was drafted by it recently. Sahakian says that the government is only ready to have the voting and ballot counting process recorded by video cameras. But they would have to be purchased by foreign donors, he adds.
“Chorrord Ishkhanutyun” scoffs at President Serzh Sarkisian’s speech at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States during which he claimed that the Armenian government is doing everything to promote science and education in the country. “Unfortunately, the speech has nothing to do with reality,” writes the paper. It says that Sarkisian at best spoke of his dreams, while failing to understand that “he and his party are the main obstacle to the realization of those dreams.”
“Zhamanak” reports on fresh details of the ongoing criminal investigation into the arrested members of an Armenian militant group which were released by the National Security Service (NSS) on Wednesday. The paper singles out the NSS claim that the group that allegedly pledged to seize power “targeted” not only the current Armenian leadership but also former Presidents Levon Ter-Petrosian and Robert Kocharian. It says the authorities are thus trying to show that President Sarkisian has neutralized a grave threat to not only himself but also his predecessors very critical of him. “This is a very interesting twist and message indeed,” concludes the paper.
“Zhoghovurd” reports that the U.S. state of Hawaii has recognized Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent republic with a declaration adopted by the state legislature this week. “Hawaii thus became the seventh American state recognizing Artsakh’s independence,” says the paper. “The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic’s independence was previously recognized by Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Louisiana, Maine, California and Georgia.” The paper speculates that the U.S. administration is thus sending a message to the parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
(Tigran Avetisian)