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As a result of the anticorruption measures by the new government of Armenia, offenses totaling about 29.2bn drams (approx. US$61,210,150) have been revealed, from May 8 to July 20.
Aren Mkrtchyan, the Prime Minister’s assistant on anticorruption issues, wrote about the aforementioned on Facebook.
“(…) which [the offenses] have bore a character of damage caused to the state, embezzlement, misuse of official position, bribe,” Mkrtchyan added.
In Pashinyan’s words, by analyzing Azerbaijan’s actions, he has come to realize that Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev has domestic political issues.
“It seems he has fears and concerns that the people of Azerbaijan could be inspired by the democratic processes in Armenia, and political processes [could] start there [in Azerbaijan] too,” the Armenian PM said. “That’s why I say that any aggressive action of Azerbaijan is directed not solely at Armenia, but also at democracy.”
The politico-military situation is quite tense, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan stated at his Facebook livestream on Sunday evening.
But he informed that ever since his becoming PM—in May, there were solely three or four cases that the ceasefire violations—by Azerbaijan—were numerous.
“And you see aggressive statements from Azerbaijan,” Pashinyan added. “My order to the [Armenian] Armed Forces is as follows that we need to be extremely alert and be ready for any provocation.”
The PM noted that there was an Azerbaijani military buildup along the line of contact.
“We also have some destructive actions by Azerbaijan, in the direction of Nakhichevan,” he added. “In all these situations, we need to defend our interests in solid manner.”
The Premier stated that the Armenian side needed to be ready to defend itself and, also, to counterattack at any time.
“Today the Armenian people—in Artsakh [Nagorno-Karabakh], the diaspora and Armenia—are consolidated more than ever, and that’s the most important factor of our strength, combat-readiness,” Pashinyan said, in particular.
The Armenian PM stressed that Azerbaijan was behaving aggressively.
“On the other hand, this situation should not be overestimated or underestimated,” Nikol Pashinyan added. “Each and every Armenian living in any part of the world shall be ready to leave everything aside and engage in the defense of the homeland; this is my key message.”
YEREVAN. – Carrying out civil disobedience actions against the government that enjoys the people’s trust means carrying out civil disobedience actions against yourselves, or carrying out sabotage actions.
The new Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, wrote the aforesaid a short while ago, on his Facebook page.
“It is incomprehensible to me that there [still] are citizens who do not properly respond to my call for stopping all civil disobedience actions and working with the [new] government on existing matters,” Pashinyan wrote, in particular. “Carrying out civil disobedience actions against the government that enjoys the people’s trust means carrying out civil disobedience actions against yourselves, or carrying out sabotage actions.
“I once again ask, urge, and demand to stop from this moment all civil disobedience actions, without exception; if they are not sabotage against the government that enjoys the people’s trust—therefore, against the people.”
YEREVAN. – The meaning of the existence of the Republic of Armenia is to centralize on its territory the Armenians’ social, economic, financial, and scientific potential—or a considerable part thereof, and to ensure the security and normal development of this potential.
The new Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, stated the aforementioned at a videoconference by the University of Southern California in Los Angeles Institute of Armenian Studies.
“Our task is to stop and turn back the millennium-long wheel of emigration of our people, to make Armenia a state aimed at the preservation of the Armenian people’s potential and the ensuring of their normal activities,” the Armenian PM said, in particular. “For that, we see one precondition: the citizen of the Republic of Armenia shall be the bearer of the supreme power [in the country].”
In Pashinyan’s words, the primary task of the newly formed government is to restore the institute of free, independent, and transparent elections in Armenia.
“I believe, after these changes we will not have a problem of ensuring citizen’s engagement,” he added, in particular. “The most important [thing] is that the citizen fights for his right.”
Also, the PM noted that Diaspora Armenians’ engagement in Armenia sometimes depends on the provisions and barriers specified by the constitution of the country.
“We intend to eliminate those barriers so that we have an opportunity to use the potential of the [Armenian] diaspora in the establishment of state institutes [in Armenia],” Nikol Pashinyan stressed, in particular.
YEREVAN, MAY 19, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan talked about the problems in the judicial system of Armenia in a live Facebook broadcast and presented the ways to solve them. ARMENPRESS reports Pashinyan underlined that no representative of the Armenian authorities will order the court to make this or that ruling.
“It’s a red line for me and I cannot allow any representative of the authorities to cross that line, because it’s necessary to ensure two things for having an independent judicial system. First, we have to give the judges an opportunity to make rulings in the framework of their powers and second, we have to block all the channels of solving issues by giving bribes”, Pashinyan said.
The Prime Minister hopes that the public will support that approach. Pashinyan emphasizes that no one in Armenia has the right to interfere in the in the works of the judicial system.
Referring to the practice of applying pre-trial detention as a preventive measure, PM Pashinyan said that people should be released if the detention is not justified.
“It’s necessary to avoid the situations when prisons are overcrowded and were the prisoners sleep one after another. These are torture cases”, he said.
YEREVAN. – Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan of Armenia on Friday hosted Karekin II Catholicos of All Armenians, and Catholicos Aram I of the Armenian Church Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
The interlocutors reflected on the ongoing large-scale protests in the country and expressed their concerns by the respective current situation, press office of the government informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.
Considering it natural that there may be dissatisfaction, demands and concerns in any country, the catholicoi underscored the expressing of protest solely in civilized way, and by respecting the constitutional order and laws of the country.
Also, Karekin II and Aram I expressed their satisfaction and appreciation that the use of force, clashes, and conflicts have no place in this process.
Armenia’s Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan said on Saturday, November 19 that the country needs “profound change,” adding that “we’re proposing the most rapid change that’s possible,” including measures to combat corruption by streamlining bureaucracy and a government fund to support enterprise, Bloomberg reports.
“Businesses shouldn’t be obstructed” by corrupt officials seeking payments for administrative decisions or by dominant rivals using political ties to restrict competition, said Karapetyan, a former mayor of Yerevan who took office after returning from Russia, where he worked in Moscow since 2012 for a subsidiary of Gazprom PJSC, the world’s largest natural-gas exporter.
“We will create an even, competitive, level playing field.”
Armenia’s foreign debt is $5.8 billion with GDP at $10 billion, while growth of 3.2% in 2017 won’t be enough to raise living standards significantly, Karapetyan said. “We also have external debt growing faster than the GDP growth and growing faster than revenues,” he said.
Changes in the leadership of the customs service and in the tax code are improving transparency, and he won’t allow dominant players to use “administrative support that isn’t available to others” to suppress competition, Karapetyan said. “No one is immune and no one is privileged,’’ he said.
Armenia rejected a trade pact with the European Union to enter the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union of former Soviet states in January last year.
While critics say there’s been no economic benefit so far, nobody knows what would have happened if Armenia hadn’t joined and “the negative impact could have been much greater,” while membership doesn’t stop Armenia developing EU trade, Karapetyan said.
Armenia’s also seeking to bolster trade with Iran following the lifting of international sanctions over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program. Karapetyan said he’s ordered plans developed by December 25 to implement a free economic zone near Armenia’s southern border to boost ties in areas including agriculture and food production.
Armenia’s in a “challenging” position after absorbing “tremendous shocks” when Russia’s ruble devalued following the fall in oil prices, Teresa Daban Sanchez, the International Monetary Fund’s resident representative in Yerevan, said in an interview.
Karapetyan further said that “we clearly understand that reduced public spending may have a downside effect,” while businesses are delaying investment until after the elections. Amid speculation he’s a short-term appointment to improve the ruling Republican party’s prospects, it’s “inappropriate’’ to say if he’ll be prime minister after the vote because nobody can predict the outcome, he said.
Even so, he’s seeking to develop clear long-term plans over the next six months so that “from 2018 we’ll have sustainable year-on-year growth,’’ Karapetyan said.