Saturday 10 September 2016

Armenian News... A Topalian... PM of Armenia resigns...


arminfo.am
Prime Minister of Armenia resigns
September 8 2016

Tatevik Shahunyan 
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has started forming a so-called
" government of national accord ". For that purpose Karen Karapetyan , 
ex- mayor of Yerevan, Deputy CEO for Strategic Development at 
Gazprom Mezhregiongaz, has already been invited to Yerevan. The 
Armenian President is going to offer Karapetyan to head the
"government of national accord". The incumbent Prime Minister Hovik 
Abrahamyan after resignation will the campaign headquarters of the 
Republican Party of Armenia in the run-up to the parliamentary elections 
of 2017. 

The ministerial office will also undergo some changes. For instance, 
Head of the Armenian President's Staff Vigen Sargsyan will be appointed 
foreign minister, and the incumbent Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian 
will be sent to France as an ambassador. It is not ruled out that National 
Security Council Secretary Armen Gevorgyan will replace Vigen Sargsyan 
as the head of the President's Staff. In that case, the Security Council will 
become part of the President's Administration. According to the source, 
Head of the Customs Service Hovik Hovsepyan may be dismissed in the 
near future. The former Prosecutor General, Gevorg Kostanyan, will 
replace Yuri Vardanyan as Armenia's Ambassador to Georgia. Acting 
Prosecutor General Armen Harutyunyan's nominee will be advanced 
for the prosecutor general's post.

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan will discuss the upcoming staff 
reshuffle in the Government with the ruling Republican Party of Armenia 
(RPA) at the RPA Council's meeting later in the evening.


news.am 
Rio 2016 Paralympics: Armenia is represented by 2 athletes 
The delegation from Armenia also participated in the opening ceremony 
of the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Swimmer Margarita Hovakimyan, 21, and weightlifter Greta Vardanyan, 30, 
will represent Armenia in the fifteenth Summer Paralympic Games.

The two athletes had competed in the London 2012 Paralympic Games, too.


New Europe
Sept 8 2016
Armenian government resigns amid economic troubles, unrest
By Dan Alexe
Contributing Editor, New Europe

Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamian announced today he would
resign, after an economic slowdown this year and outbreaks of violence
prompted the president to call for a new government.

“We need new approaches and a new beginning,” Abrahamian told a
cabinet meeting on September 8. “We should think about the future and
form a new government.”

The move comes just weeks after President Serzh Sarksian proposed a
government of national accord.

Abrahamian was appointed prime minister two years ago. In 2015
Armenia’s economy started to deteriorate – economic growth slowed to 3
percent in 2015 from 3.5 percent in 2014 and below the government’s
growth forecast of 4.1 percent. The government expects 2.2 percent
economic growth in 2016.

Armenia, a country of 3.2 million people, depends heavily on aid and
investment from former Soviet overlord Russia, whose economic downturn
has hit Armenian exports and much-needed remittances from Armenians
working there.

The government has also faced political challenges, including a
flare-up of violence in Azerbaijan’s breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region
in April between Armenian-backed separatists and Azeri forces.

Two months later a group of 30 armed men seized the police station and
took hostages in the Armenian capital Yerevan. Two police officers
were killed during a two-week stand-off, before gunmen surrendered to
the authorities.

The incident led to mass protests in the capital, when people took to
the streets to secure the release of a jailed opposition politician
and resignation of the government and the president.

Shortly after that Sarksian said that radical reforms in political and
social life were needed. He said it was necessary to form “a
government of national accord” to provide a broader distribution and
division of political responsibility.

Local media reported on Wednesday that Abrahamian might be replaced by
the 53-year-old technocrat Karen Karapetyan, a former head of the
national gas distributing company ArmRosGazprom and later Yerevan
mayor.

After leaving the post of mayor, he moved to Moscow, to be appointed
as the first vice-president of Gazprombank. He currently serves as the
Russian gas distribution company Gazprom mezhregiongaz’s deputy CEO.

Experts say the new government is likely to be temporary and the final
configuration will emerge only after the parliamentary election of
2017 and the end of Sarksyan’s second term in 2018, when the full
transition from the semi-presidential form of government to a
parliamentary republic will be completed. (with Reuters, Interfax)


Voice of America
Armenian PM Resigns; Party Nominates Gazprom Executive
September 08, 2016 

Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan resigned Thursday, saying the country needed fresh policies, after his government struggled with an economic slowdown and protests in the capital earlier this year.

His announcement paved the way for the cabinet to resign and the president to appoint a new prime minister following consultations with parliament.

"We need a new approach, new start. That's why I've decided to resign and let the president form a new government," Abrahamyan said.

Artak Zakaryan, a deputy from the ruling Republican Party, told reporters Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan had accepted Abrahamyan's resignation.

The party said technocrat Karen Karapetyan, 53, the former head of national gas distributing company ArmRosGazprom and later Yerevan's mayor, has been nominated as his replacement.

After leaving the post of mayor, Karapetyan moved to Moscow to be appointed first vice president of Gazprombank. He is currently deputy CEO of Russian gas producer Gazprom's GAZP.MM Mezhregiongaz unit.

Experts said the new government was likely to be temporary and that the final configuration would emerge only after 2017 parliamentary elections and the end of Sarksyan's second term in 2018, when the full transition from the semi-presidential form of government to a parliamentary republic will be completed.

Two-year run

A former parliamentary speaker and an economist by training, Abrahamyan was appointed prime minister two years ago. In 2015, Armenia's economy started to deteriorate; economic growth slowed to 3 percent in 2015 from 3.5 percent in 2014 and below the government's growth forecast of 4.1 percent. The government expects 2.2 percent economic growth in 2016.

Armenia, a country of 3.2 million people, depends heavily on aid and investment from former Soviet overlord Russia, whose economic downturn has hit Armenian exports and much-needed remittances from Armenians working there.

The government has also faced political challenges, including a flare-up of violence in Azerbaijan's breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region in April between Armenian-backed separatists and Azeri forces.

Two months later, 30 armed men seized the police station and took hostages in Yerevan, Armenia's capital. Two police officers were killed during a two-week standoff, before gunmen surrendered to the authorities.

The incident led to mass protests in the capital, when people took to the streets to secure the release of a jailed opposition politician and demand the resignation of the government and the president.

Shortly after that, Sarksyan said radical reforms in political and social life were needed. He s aid it was necessary to form "a government of national accord" to provide a broader distribution and division of political responsibility.


Vestnik Kavkaza
Armenian Defense Minister to resign
Sept 8 2016

The list of Armenian ministers to resign soon is being speculated
along with rumors on Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan's resignation,
News.az reports.

According to Graparak newspaper, reports say that Minister of
Agriculture Sergo Karapetyan, Minister of Health Armen Muradyan,
Miniser of Defense Seyran Ohanyan will also bid farewell to their
posts.

"By some reports, Vladimir Gasparyan, who was encouraged instead of
being punished after the incident with the police patrul service unit,
is also among the candidares for the minister of defense," the
newspaper writes. 


lragir.am
Russia's Intentions Relating to Caucasus
Igor Muradyan, Political Analyst
08 September 2016
The Russian political scientists integrated in government agencies who believed for many years that it is in line with Russia’s interests to “freeze” the Karabakh issue are now offering the following. They think Armenia could altogether reject this plan, and Russia will have no political resources to insist on the implementation of this project. 

At the same time, it is not recommended to go to the United States for help but to build up the relations with Russia. We think that this is not just a separate recommendation depending on the situation but a fully developed and meaningful technology. 

It should be noted that visible confusion and a lack of confidence is observed among Russian analysts and political designers relating to the “Karabakh project”. A significant part of the analytical community in Russia considers this project unrealistic. 

According to Russian analysts, the administration of the Russian president has requested the special services to lay down their opinions on the “Karabakh project” which has produced inadequate results. The heads of the Russian special services did not complicate their situation and did not provide negative assessments. 

According to special services, namely the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, this project “contains new interesting proposals and may become a starting point in unfolding the Russian policy on the South Caucasus”. The FIS recommends paying attention to the stage of agreement of proposals and positions, as well as to work on achieving consensus in Armenia and Azerbaijan, which will be a difficult task. 

Currently, the administration of the Russian president is not trying to involve the representatives of research institutes and centers. The Russian experts who visited NKR will, one way or another, keep to their opinion that the “Karabakh project” is, in fact, nothing but a political adventure but these opinions are not expressed publicly. 

Proceeding from the work done, it is allowed to arrive at the conclusion that the “Karabakh project” has been initiated mostly by the Azerbaijani lobby in Moscow which is closely linked to Dmitry Medvedev. It should be noted that Vladimir Putin and his people in the president administration, as well as the minister of foreign affairs S. Lavrov still have expressed no enthusiasm and positive expectations about this project. 

There is no confidence that thus Russia’s strategic interests and the objectives of the lobby in Moscow match but both are in place in the promotion of the “Karabakh project”. 

We think that the United States, despite the complicated domestic situation, do not have to give up on confident actions in the South Caucasus. The United States may lose a lot of positions in the region acquiring which took a lot of political and economic resources. 

Considering the critical stance of the leadership and society in Nagorno-Karabakh Republic on the Russian plans, “signals” from the United States regarding support to the NKR positions would be quite pertinent. 

At the same time, some critical assessment of the U.S. for the Russian plans will cause enthusiasm and positive expectations of the Armenian society which is ready to revise its attitude to the Russian politics. 

At one time the meeting of Hillary Clinton with American experts when she was the Secretary of State led to confidence and understanding of the setting in the South Caucasus. 

A public and political discussion has been unfolded in Armenia which needs external support because the security of the country is concerned. This discussion is scarce in facts and suggestions but full of guessing. Apparently, the thoughts of the Armenians will not become any more meaningful in the future. 

Despite various adventurous and indecent thoughts of the Armenian pro-Russian agents new conditions are forming in Armenia for a Maidan and this is inevitable. One of the main reasons of Maidan is the Karabakh issue. The Americans have realized this. 

The farther Russia gets, the more it loses the strategic vision and strategy in foreign policy. The Russian policy has a short-term perspective, not two or three years but several months at best. 

In this situation Russia has new incentives for rapprochement with Azerbaijan and Turkey, at this point the Russians feel they have found reliable and subordinate partners in the Southern direction. 

In reality, Russia has gained “masters” which can buy anyone and anything in Russia for peanuts, including the president of this isolated country. 

Armenia has become something different for Russia, like small change in its meaningless losing game with more confident countries. 

Russia is still trying to maintain its positions in the South Caucasus but the only way is a slavish subordination of Armenia to Russia’s whims. 

Armenia refused and thwarted everything that would be possible in the relations with NATO and the EU. The Americans realized the essence of the current Armenian leadership, considering it incapable, as well as ready for all forms of capitulation to the Russians. 

Now Armenia is not even a country but memory.

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