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Putin says nobody believed in Trump’s victory “except us”

December 23, 2016 By administrator

Russia‘s President Vladimir Putin said Friday, December 23 that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump accurately read the popular mood in the United States to win the election, although “nobody except us” believed in his success.

The U.S. president-elect “precisely felt the mood of the society and worked in that precise paradigm, he went to the end, though nobody believed that he would win except us,” Putin said while answering a state media journalist at his annual press conference.

Asked what he thought about support among some Americans for him, Putin said “I don’t put it down to me, the fact that a large part of Republican voters support the Russian president.”

“It means that a large part of the American people have the same idea of how the world should be, of our common dangers and problems,” he said.

“It’s good that there are people that sympathise with us in our concept of traditional values,” he said, and it may be a good starting point in “building relations” between the United States and Russia.

Russia and Putin has been accused by Washington of meddling in the U.S. elections but the Kremlin leader broadly dismissed this as attempts by the election losers to save face by blaming outside factors.

Putin suggested that the hackers behind the massive breach of Democratic Party emails did a public service by exposing “true information” which is more important than the nature of the hack.

“The most important thing is the gist of the information that hackers provided to the public,” he said.

“What is the best evidence that the hackers unveiled true information?” he said. “That after the hackers showed how public opinion is manipulated inside the Democratic Party… the chief of the Democratic National Committee (Debbie Wasserman Schultz) quit.”

“That means she admitted that the hackers showed the truth,” he said, but “instead of apologising… they started to shout about who initiated the hack attacks.”

“Does that really matter?” Putin asked.

The U.S. Democratic party have lost not just the presidential election, but also in the Senate and Congress, Putin said. “Was that also our doing?”

“They are losing on all fronts and are looking for the guilty party on the side,” he said. “That’s beneath their dignity. You have to lose with dignity.”

Related links:

AFP. Putin: nobody believed Trump would win ‘except us’

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Election, Putin, Trump

Armenia: Three opposition parties join forces for April 2017 elections

December 5, 2016 By administrator

three-partyThree opposition parties have agreed to join forces and challenge the government in the legislative elections scheduled for April.
One of them, Hanrapetutyun (Republic), was the first to announce this cooperation on Thursday evening. “The three parties will make a joint declaration on 12 December,” he said.
The other two parties are the Civil Contract of Nikol Pashinian and Bright Armenia of Edmon Marukian. The two relatively young men.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Armenia, BDP Co-Chairman Gülten Kışanak "It is not a democratization package; it is an election package, Election, Party, three

French conservatives vote in first presidential primary

November 20, 2016 By administrator

french-electionPolling booths have opened in the first round of the French conservative primary. A tight three-way contest has emerged between former president Nicolas Sarkozy and former prime ministers Francois Fillon and Alain Juppe.

The race for France’s conservative presidential nomination got underway on Sunday as seven candidates set their sights on next year’s election. By midday, voter turnout had topped one million.

The three leading candidates are former president Nicolas Sarkozy and former prime ministers Francois Fillon and Alain Juppe.

Electoral shake-up

Sunday’s primary is the first of its kind to be organized by France’s conservatives, making the outcome hard to predict. Candidates were previously designated internally.

The change to the US-style primary has been widely regarded as a response to the rise of the far-right National Front (FN).

Following a campaign which largely revolved around immigration, the final TV debate of the seven candidates on Thursday produced no clear winner, although viewers polled afterwards said Fillon put in the strongest performance.

Results from the first-round of voting are due to be announced late on Sunday, with a runoff between the top two candidates due to be held next week.

Rise of the populist right

Like elsewhere in Europe, Donald Trump’s victory in the US election last week has served as a wake-up call in France, upending long-held assumptions and triggering fears, and hopes, that next spring’s election will deliver a similar upset.

The chances of France’s far-right leader Marine Le Pen running for, and possibly winning, the French presidency in 2017 have also apparently been boosted by Trump’s election success.

The FN leader is now hoping that the growing anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim and anti-establishment sentiment can propel her to the presidency.

Former President Sarkozy hopes to pull back votes from the populist right, however, after calling for stricter immigration rules across Europe.

The final conservative seven: Bruno Le Maire, Alain Juppe, Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, Nicolas Sarkozy, Jean-Francois Cope, Jean-Frederic Poisson and Francois Fillon

Left-wing influence

With the French left still divided, the outcome of the conservative primary will be crucial. The conservative nominee who emerges from next Sunday’s runoff is tipped to go on to take the presidency in May.

Another unknown factor in Sunday’s first round is the number of left-wing voters prepared to pay two euros ($2.10) and sign a declaration that they subscribe to “the values of the centre and the right” to vote in the right-wing primary. Those who do are expected to vote against Sarkozy.

President Francois Hollande’s is also yet to announce whether he intends to bid for re-election. On Wednesday, Hollande’s former economy minister Emmanuel Macron said he would stand as an independent.

ksb/jlw (AFP, AP)

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: conservatives, Election, France

Better to support Congress members than vote for U.S. President: publisher

October 11, 2016 By administrator

harut-sassounian-740-newPublisher of The California Courier Harut Sassounian has unveiled a new article, urging Armenian-Americans to vote for members of Congress rather than the U.S. presidential candidates. The article reads:

There is widespread dissatisfaction and mistrust among the American public toward the two main presidential candidates: Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Armenian-Americans likewise are negatively disposed toward these candidates. More specifically, on Armenian issues Mrs. Clinton has shown that she cannot be trusted, while Donald Trump’s position is unknown.

Strangely, neither Clinton nor Trump has made any effort to win over Armenian-American voters, despite the close presidential race. The two candidates have not attended any Armenian events, held no meetings with members of the community, nor sought to raise any funds from them. It is preferable that presidential candidates make no promises that they do not intend to keep, thereby deterring Armenian-Americans from wasting their money and votes, and after the election, saving them from much aggravation and disappointment.

Of course, everyone is free to vote for the candidate of his or her choice. One is also free to vote for third party candidates or not to vote at all.

While Presidential candidates are constantly covered by the media, there are many local and state elections that hardly make the news. For example, there are 435 Members of Congress and a third of the 100 U.S. Senators who are up for election or reelection on November 8.

As opposed to White House candidates who may or may not support Armenian issues after the election, most House and Senate members have already served in Congress for several years and therefore, their positions on Armenian issues are well-known. Thus, voting for them is not a guessing game! They have a proven track record — positive, negative or in between.

Below is the list of only those House and Senate members who have received either an excellent (A) or extremely bad (F) grade from the Armenian National Committee of America after a thorough review of their positions on a broad range of Armenian-American issues in the last two years. Those who have earned the grade A deserve the Armenian community’s support. Those who have an F after their names have had a very negative position on Armenian causes, and therefore, should not be supported. The letters D and R denote Democrat or Republican. To review the complete list of all members of Congress and their grades, please visit: www.anca.org/report-card.

Alaska: Don Young (R) F. California: Jeff Denham (R) A; Barbara Lee (D) A; Jackie Speier (D) A; Jim Costa (D) A; Anna Eshoo (D) A; Zoe Lofgren (D) A; David Valadao (R) A; Devin Nunes (R) A; Judy Chu (D) A; Adam Schiff (D) A; Tony Cardenas (D) A; Brad Sherman (D) A; Grace Napolitano (D) A; Ted Lieu (D) A; Karen Bass (D) A; Linda Sanchez (D) A; Edward Royce (R) A; Lucille Roybal-Allard (D) A; Alan Lowenthal (D) A; Dana Rohrabacher (R) A. Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D) A (running for Senate and endorsed by ANCA). Colorado: Sen. Cory Gardner (R) A; Jared Polis (D) A; Mike Coffman (R) A; Edwin Perlmutter (D) A. Florida: Sen. Marco Rubio (R) A; Gus Bilirakis (R) A. Georgia: Doug Collins (R) F. Illinois: Sen. Richard Durbin (D) A; Sen. Mark Kirk (R) A; Daniel Lipinski (D) A; Mike Quigley (D) A; Janice Schakowsky (D) A; Robert Dold (R) A. Maryland: John Sarbanes (D) A; Christopher Van Hollen (D) A (running for Senate and endorsed by ANCA). Massachusetts: Sen. Edward Markey (D) A; Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D) A; James McGovern (D) A; Niki Tsongas (D) A; Joe Kennedy (D) A; Katherine Clark (D) A. Michigan: Sen. Gary Peters (D) A; Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D) A; Sander Levin (D) A; David Trott (R) A; John Conyers (D) A. Minnesota: Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D) A; Betty McCollum (D) A; Collin Peterson (D) A. Montana: Ryan Zinke (R) F. Nevada: Dina Titus (D) A; Joe Heck (R) A (running for Senate and endorsed by ANCA). New Jersey: Sen. Robert Menendez (D) A; Christopher Smith (R) A; Scott Garrett (R) A; Frank Pallone (D) A; Donald Payne (D) F. New York: Sen. Charles Schumer (D) A; Grace Meng (D) A; Carolyn Maloney (D) A; Eliot Engel (D) A; Paul Tonko (D) A. North Carolina: Virginia Foxx (R) F. Ohio: Michael Turner (R) F; Tim Ryan (D) F. Pennsylvania: Scott Perry (R) F; Bill Shuster (R) F.

Rhode Island: Sen. Jack Reed (D) A; Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D) A; David Cicilline (D) A; James Langevin (D) A. Tennessee: Stephen Ira Cohen (D) F. Texas: Joe Barton (R) F; Pete Olson (R) F; Henry Cuellar (D) F; Gene Green (D) F; Pete Sessions (R) F. Virginia: Dave Brat (R) A; Gerald Connolly (D) F.

In addition, there are two Armenian-American candidates who are worthy of your support: 1) Those who live in Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District are urged to vote for Danny Tarkanian (Republican); 2) Those who live in California’s Assembly District 43 should vote for Ardy Kassakhian (Democrat).

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Election, US

Recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh’s independence: expert on Armenian community’s demands prior to France presidential campaign

September 25, 2016 By administrator

french-armenian-electionPrior to the presidential election in France, the local Armenian community should decide on its demands, Kayts Minasyan, an expert for a French center for strategic research, told Tert.am.

“The candidates to be nominated by the right- and left-wing parties have not yet been named. But the major candidates have been named – Marine Le Pen, nominated by a radical right-wing political force. It is not yet clear if Nicolas Sarkozy will be nominated by the Republicans. The same can be said about François Hollande, but both are being talked about much,” Mr Minasyan said.

With respect to the issues of importance for the local Armenian community, he noted that France has officially recognized the Armenian Genocide, and the French Senate is now expected to adopt a resolution penalizing the denial of the Armenian Genocide.

“If it happens, the Armenians should demand recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh by France as well. In the case of Nagorno-Karabakh, recognition of its independence is a priority. And the candidates are likely to show their real attitude to the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh’s independence during the election campaign,” Mr Minasyan said.

On the threshold of elections, Turkey-France and France-Russia-Turkey relations will be outlined.

“It will also have its impact on the French-Armenian community and Armenians-related issues,” the expert said.

Three political schools are working in France: the pro-government school, Gaullism and Neo-conservatism.

“The first objects to Turkey’s accession to the European Union and does not attach importance to the issue of national minorities. The second attaches importance to development of relations with Turkey and to friendly relations with all other states. The third attaches importance to good relations with all states. The most important is that, taking this all into account, the Armenian community should build up its relations with the three political schools,” Mr Minasyan said.

Speaking of the candidates’ preferences, he said:

“François Hollande, who represents the left-wing political forces, will always lay emphasis on the Armenian Genocide and be involved in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process. He is seeking peace between Armenian and Azerbaijanis. Maintaining good relations with Turkey is of importance for France. François Hollande opened a new chapter in Turkey’s relations with the European Union.”

With respect to Marine Le Pen, Mr Minasyan said she objects to Turkey’s membership in the European Union.

“Since she objects to national minorities in France, we can say she will not be concerned with Armenians-related issues. She does not say anything about Nagorno-Karabakh. She is pro-Russian and has now turned to a Russian bank for financing her election campaign,” Mr Minasyan said.

As regards the Republicans, Nicolas Sarkozy is a pro-Armenian candidate and does not stand well with Turkey.

“He is pro-Russian, but we do not know what he thinks about Nagorno-Karabakh. He is most likely to seek a balance between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” Mr Minasyan said.

One more candidate is Alain Juppé, who is known to be a pro-Turkish political figure.

“But he recently stated Turkey could not be a member of the European Union. He is agaist national minorities and is rather serious about Nagorno-Karabakh’s independence. But we do not know about his attitude to Nagorno-Karabakh,” Mr Minasyan said.

Prior to the presidential election, the Armenian community is making steps to promote its interests.

“The Armenian Revolutionary Federation Dashnaktsutyun (ARF-D) party is in close relations with François Hollande. And Dashnkatsutyun is most likely to monitor the election process,” Mr Minasyan said.

He is sure that the Armenian community can influence the presidential campaign in France.

“Armenians must have their strategy, and we are ready to support the candidate that will recognize Nagorno-Karabakh’s independence both prior to and after the election campaign. A pledge is an important thing,” Mr Minasyan said.

Hripsime Hovhannsiyan

Filed Under: Articles, Genocide Tagged With: Armenian, Election, France, president

Russian Armenians focused on national problems – Viktor Konoplyev

September 25, 2016 By administrator

russian-armenian-electionRussian Armenians are far from being involved in domestic political life, political analyst Viktor Konoplyev told Tert.am.

Armenians have focused their attention on their narrow national problems and are afraid of raising their problems at a high level, at the State Duma, for example.

Mr Konoplyev, what kind of parliament has been formed as a result of the September 19 parliamentary elections in Russia? Are Armenians represented there?

I have examined the lists of candidates nominated by the participating parties. No Armenian name could be found in the lists of the Homeland party, People’s Freedom Party, Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) or the Communist party. Two Armenian candidates were in the lists of the United Russia party, six candidates in the lists of the ‘A Just Russia’ party, one candidate in the Russian United Democratic Party “Yabloko” lists, two in the Party of Pensioners of Russia lists, and three in the Russian Nationalists party lists.

Four of the parties got into the State Duma: United Russia, Communist party, LDPR led by Vladimir Zhirinovsky, and A Just Russia. The Homeland and the Political Platform parties have one representative each as well. At best, eight Armenians can get into Russia’s State Duma. The exact figure can hardly be cited because the parties have not yet released their lists.

The problem is that Russian Armenians, who have hundreds of organizations are withdrawing from Russia’s domestic politics. They have thus focused their attention on their national problems and are afraid of raising their problems at a high level, at the State Duma, for example.

 

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Armenian, Election, local, Parliament, Russian

Opposition party wins Armenia regional elections

September 19, 2016 By administrator

local-election-oppositionGagik Sargsyan from the opposition Civil Contract party won regional elections in Nor Kyank community in Armenia’s Aragatsotn province.

Also running for the head of the community was Mayis Abrahamyan from the ruling Republican Party (RPA).

Meanwhile, Arayik Khandoyan from Sasna Tsrer movement and acting chief Yervand Khachatryan lost the elections to a former head of Tsaghkahovit community, Norain Hakobyan.

An armed group known as Sasna Tsrer (Daredevils of Sassoun) stormed a Yerevan police patrol department in mid-July and took everyone inside hostage. Throughout the following days, the group released the captives one by one. After negotiations that lasted for a little over two weeks, the gunmen agreed to surrender to the law enforcement bodies. Three police officers were killed during this period.

Khandoyan is currently jailed.

In Vagharshapat, where an armed incident accurred on the eve of the elections, acting mayor Karen Grigoryan from RPA won with an overwhelming majority of votes.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Armenia, Election, local

President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party wins parliamentary election

September 18, 2016 By administrator

putin-party-wineRussia’s lower house of parliament will will be dominated by Kremlin loyalists after United Russia won 51 percent of the vote, partial results showed. Voter turnout plummeted by 20 percent since the 2011 election.

Allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin comfortably won a parliamentary election, early results showed on Monday.

According to a preliminary central election commission tally after a quarter of the votes had been counted, the ruling United Russia party won 51 percent of the vote in Sunday’s election – up two percent on 2011’s parliamentary election.

“We can say with certainty that the party has achieved a very good result; it’s won,” Putin said at the United Russia headquarters, minutes after polling stations closed on Sunday evening.

According to the incomplete official vote count, the right-wing populist LDPR party was in second place with 17.2 percent, while the Communists came in third on 14.9 percent.

The Kremlin-friendly, pro-business Just Russia party garnered 6.4 percent, leaving them in fourth position.

Economic turmoil

Putin said United Russian’s win showed that voters still trusted the leadership, despite an economic slowdown made worse by Western sanctions over Ukraine. Russia’s spluttering economy is forecast to shrink by at least 0.3 percent this year.

“We know that life is hard for people, there are lots of problems, lots of unresolved problems. Nevertheless, we have this result,” Putin said.

United Russia, which was founded by Putin, will now be able to extend its dominance in Russia’s 450-seat lower house of parliament, or Duma.

The victory is also of personal interest to Putin, whose aides are likely to use the result as a springboard for his campaign for re-election in 2018. The President is yet to confirm, however, whether he will seek another term in office.

Low turnout

Despite the success of United Russia on Sunday, the election’s low turnout suggested a softening of enthusiasm for the ruling elite.

According to election officials, two hours before polling stations closed on Sunday, turnout was at 39.4 percent, marking a huge drop from the 60 percent turnout seen at the last parliamentary election.

In the Siberian region of Altai, Russian officials were investigating reports of vote rigging. If the allegations are confirmed, the results from that region could be discounted.

The last parliamentary election in 2011 was also marked with widespread allegations of vote fraud, prompting anti-government demonstrations.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) was monitoring the elections throughout the country on Sunday – except in Crimea, which they consider an illegally seized part of Ukraine.

ksb/jm (Reuters, AP, AFP)

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Election, Party, Putin, wine

Shootout took place in Echmiadzin ahead of local elections

September 17, 2016 By administrator

shootout-echmiadzinOn late night of September 16 gun were fired in Armenia’s Echmiadzin city, the First News reported.

According to the source, a fire was opened on the car carrying Echmiadzin Mayor Karen Grigoryan, nominated for the upcoming Mayor’s elections. As Panorama.am leant, Grigoryan was traveling back from Yerevan where he attended Urvagits TV programme.

According to initial information, the fire was opened from Vaz car with state number plate 21/06.

The police confirmed the incident took place with one injured reported. The Investigative Committee is looking into the circumstances of the incident.
Media reports circulate the name Artur Tumanyan, another candidate for Echmiadzin Mayor’s election involved in the incident.

As Panorama.am learnt from Erebuni medical center, Artur Tumanyan was transferred to Neurology department.  No further details were provided.

Spokesperson for the acting Mayor and nominated candidate for the elections is not available for comments.

 

Source Panorama.am

Filed Under: Articles, Events Tagged With: echmiadze, Election, shootout

Hacker Guccifer 2.0 Exposes Democrats’ Pay-to-Play Scheme “Ambassadorships for sale”

September 14, 2016 By administrator

pay-playAfter revealing that the Democratic National Committee actively conspired against presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, the hacker known as Guccifer 2.0 has now exposed the organization’s corrupt method of appointing vital US government positions.

On Tuesday, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) released a statement, bracing for new revelations by — who else?— the Russians. “The DNC is the victim of a crime – an illegal cyber attack by Russian state-sponsored agents who seek to harm the Democratic Party and progressive groups in an effort to influence the presidential election,” the statement reads. “We would urge anyone attempting to access these documents to proceed with extreme caution given the potential malware risks.”

The DNC is bracing itself for the release of more documents pic.twitter.com/y1uVz8jUW9

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) September 13, 2016

Now that the documents have been released, the attempt to blame the “Russian boogeyman” for the hack has been revealed as a clear attempt to create a distraction from the damning information contained within the leaked documents.

According to the documents, top donors to the DNC have received various government positions. Most are ambassadorships, but several are departmental appointments.

Matthew Berzun, who reportedly raised $1,907,100 for the DNC, as well as $1,174,430 for President Barack Obama’s Organizing for Action (OFA), was appointed as Ambassador to the United Kingdom. Kirk Wagar appears to have raised $825,000 for the DNC and $1,300,000 for the OFA before being appointed Ambassador to Singapore. The documents show that Julius Genachowski raised $792,650 for the DNC and $2,628,169 for the OFA. Genachowski served as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair between 2009 and 2013. Frank Sanchez raised $3,415,000 for the DNC, OFA, and the Combined Federal Campaign and served as the US Under Secretary of Commerce.

“We have a political system which, unfortunately, encourages pay to play, and people who give big donations are often rewarded with positions in the government,” former Congressman Dennis Kucinich told Radio Sputnik’s By Any Means Necessary. “It really illustrates the defects in our system, where money trumps everything and everything’s for sale.”

“And don’t think for a moment that all of these corporate interests that are honeycombed now into positions in the government aren’t delivering to the corporate interests, from where they came, some form of benefit, in terms of reshaping government policy,” he adds.

As long as we have the kind of campaign finance system we have, the system is going to be vulnerable to pay to play, and that’s what we’re seeing right now, and it happens in both political parties, so it’s a rotten system.” Kucinich pointed out that the problem isn’t limited to the Democratic Party. “Both political parties are in trouble. There is an emerging force in America that doesn’t rely on political parties for legitimacy, and the political parties — both Democrat and Republican — have become totally self-serving, captives of corporate interest, and unable to be able to address the practical aspirations of the American people for healthcare, for education, for jobs, for a clean environment, for protecting the globe, for peace,” he said. “And so we, today, learn a little bit more about the Democratic Party being for sale. Well, that’s nothing new, nor is it new that the same goes for the Republican Party.”

Read more: https://sputniknews.com/politics/20160914/1045313905/guccifer-dnc-pay-to-play.html

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: dns, Election, Pay, play, to, US

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