Intrigue of the day

2008-05-29 15:33:00 Former Vice Speaker of RA parliament: Ministers from ARF Dashnaksutyun Party withdrew from their portfolios voluntarily

ArmInfo. "The ministers from the ARF Dashnaksutyun Party withdrew their portfolios voluntarily, nobody forced them to do this", Chairman of the ARFD faction, member of the ARFD Bureau Vahan Hovhannisyan said at a press-conference at the international press-center "New Armenia", Thursday.

According to him, Armenian Minister of Agriculture David Lokyan, Armenian Minister of Education and Science Levon Mkrtchyan and Armenian Minister of Labour and Social Issues Aghvan Vardanyan laid
down their duties as the work in government didn't allow them to develop their political activity. "The ministers couldn't be responsible for the party and the government simultaneously. They worked within the frames of the executive body, which didn't allow them to expand their activity in the political field", Hovhannisyan stressed. He added that their posts will be held by "young and smart personnel". "Discussions concerning the new ministers are currently being held. This issue will be settled at the end
of the current week", he said. The MP didn't rule out that people, which are not ARFD members, may be appointed ministers. "However, first and foremost, we are considering the nominees of our party members", Hovhannisyan said.







Politics

2008-05-29 15:08:00 Member of 'Skela' (Started) oppositional Movement Arsen Kharatyan attacked yesterday

ArmInfo. Member of "Sksela" (Started) oppositional Movement, son of the former Head of the Administration for National Minorities and Religions Hranush Kharatyan, Arsen Kharatyan, has been beaten in Yerevan.

As Radio Liberty reports, several people attacked Arsen Kharatyan yesterday at about 1:00 PM near "Verisazh" fair and started to beat him. The injuries Kharatyan received were so serious that he was
carried to "Surb Grigor Lusavorich" Medical Center. A. Kharatyan expressed confidence that the incident is connected with his public activity. As Kharatyan said, he did not see the attackers as they run away in different directions. He added that he received no threats earlier. A. Kharatyan gave explanations on this incident to Police investigators in the hospital.


2008-05-29 15:01:00 Armenia: 'few tangible results' on PACE demands so far, says Monitoring Committee

ArmInfo. The Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), meeting in Kyiv on 26 and 27 May 2008, welcomed the initiatives taken by the Armenian authorities to address the issues contained in Resolution 1609 (2008) on the functioning of democratic institutions in Armenia. However, it is concerned that, to date, these initiatives have led to only a few tangible results regarding compliance with the demands of the Assembly as set out in this Resolution, CE headquarters told
ArmInfo.

In Resolution 1609 (2008), the Assembly resolved to consider the possibility of suspending the voting rights of the Armenian delegation at the start of its June 2008 part- session unless considerable progress is made on the following requirements:

* to revoke, in line with Venice Commission recommendations, the recently adopted amendments to the Law on Conducting Meetings, Assemblies, Rallies and Demonstrations;

* to start an independent, transparent and credible inquiry into the events on 1 March 2008, as well as the circumstances that led to them;

* to release the persons detained on seemingly artificial and politically motivated charges;

* to initiate an open and serious dialogue between the political forces on the reforms demanded by the Assembly.

The committee noted that the required changes to the Law on Conducting Meetings, Assemblies, Rallies and Demonstrations have been passed at first reading by the National Assembly of Armenia and
expects them to be adopted and promulgated before the start of the June part-session of PACE. It welcomes the steps taken to initiate a dialogue on the reforms requested by the Assembly, most notably with respect to the electoral system and the status and rights of the opposition. It expresses the hope that those opposition leaders who to date have been reluctant to participate in this dialogue will now
consider joining. That said, the committee is seriously concerned about the lack of any noticeable progress on the opening of an independent and credible enquiry. The format envisaged of a parliamentary ad hoc committee to carry out the inquiry into the events on, and leading to, 1 March will lack the requisite independence and credibility demanded by the Assembly, unless the participation of extra-parliamentary opposition, civil society and international experts is guaranteed. The committee also regrets that
no progress has been made regarding the release of persons detained on seemingly artificial and politically motivated charges.

The committee is convinced that, although time is limited, it is still possible for the Armenian authorities to address the requirements of the Assembly in time for the visit of the co-rapporteurs of the committee in the week before the June part-session. Therefore, the committee instructed its Chair to ask on its behalf for a debate under urgent procedure during the June 2008 part-session of the Assembly if the co-rapporteurs, following their visit to Armenia on 16 and 17 June, conclude that insufficient progress
has been achieved by then.


2008-05-29 14:56:00 NKR parliament speaker meet well-known French historian

ArmInfo. NKR Parliament speaker Ashot Gulyan received a well- known French historian, author of a number of researches on the Armenian Genocide Yves Ternon and his wife Michel Ternon

As NKR NA press service told ArmInfo, A. Gulyan congratulated the French historian on recent award with prizes of RA president upon results of 2007. 'This prize is, undoubtedly, the whole Armenian
people's assessment of your multi-year work, dedicated to study of the tragic events of the Genocide', A. Gulyan said. The speaker marked the efforts of OSCE MG co-chairs, including the French mediator, in Nagorno Karabakh conflift settlement process. Having highly evaluated the French historian's contribution in protection of interests of the Artsakh people, the speaker awarded Yves Ternon with a jubilee medal devoted to 20th anniversary of Karabakh movement.


2008-05-29 14:53:00 Justice Minister of Armenia makes some remarks on extraordinary report by Armenian Ombudsman

ArmInfo. Justice Minister of Armenia Gevorg Danielyan made a number of remarks on the extraordinary report by Ombudsman Armen Haroutiunyn on post-election processes in the country.

Thus, the minister remarked that the report does not mention its specific legal basis. The minister said that in conformity with the Law on Ombudsman the latter has a right to make an extraordinary report in case of cross violation of human rights. In this connection, he was to mention the specific ground for publication of the report. 'The content and the scheme of the report aim to analyze the pre- and post-election developments in Armenia. In the meanwhile, the analysis of the presidential election cannot
be a juridical basis for such report since it is a topic for political research>, the minister said. He believes the report 'overloaded' with discourses not within competence of the human rights defender, in particular, the part in the report that tries to explain the inexpediency of the criticism at the first president Levon Ter-Petorsyan. 'To put it shortly, the considerable part of the report is devoted to grounding the political stance saying that 'the authorities cho
se the wrong and futureless tactics in their campaign>>, G. Danielyan said.

To recall, Armenian Ombudsman Armen Harutiunyan came out with a suggestion that an independent commission should be set up to investigate the March 1 events.

On April 25, when presenting an extraordinary report on the situation before and after presidential election in Armenia, Harutiunyan made a number of proposals aimed to stabilize the domestic political state in the country. In particular, he suggests that the Electoral Code should be reformed: the system of formation of electoral commissions, count of votes, etc. should be reconsidered. According to the
Ombudsman, it is necessary to take steps to consolidate freedom of speech. This concerns creation of conditions for formation of pluralism and objectivity of e-media, as well as equal participation of oppositional and pro-governmental forces in the process of formation of bodies regulating the activity of television and radio. Harutyunyan said that the draft laws which ungroundedly restrict human rights and freedoms (for instance, the recent amendments to the RA Law on rallies, demonstrations and processions)
should be excluded. He also suggested setting up an independent commission with international experts to investigate the March 1 events. He pointed out the necessity of fight against the oligarchic system of governing. Liquidation of monopolies will contribute to this, he added. "The most dangerous and short-sighted thing in the current situation is imitation of reforms", Harutyunyan said.


Economy

2008-05-29 15:16:00 RA prime minister: RA government intends to actuate administrative levers to restrain inflation

ArmInfo. RA government intends to actuate administrative levers to restrain inflation, as solution of this problem is a problem number one in the republic, RA Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisyan said at today's government session.

As he said, the Gallup polls have shown that the society is most of all concerned over the price rise in Armenia today. The premier said that the government is not satisfied with the degree of elasticity
of prices as their rise happens rapidly and sufficiently while the cut in prices - slowly. Unfortunately, the premier said, the government do not succeed to restrain inflation without administrative levers.

He paid the governmental members' attention to the fact that a sharp fall in prices for bread, cereal products and rice has been fixed in the international markets. In particular, the grain prices during
the last month dropped by 42% and for rice - by 22%, that created favourable conditions for the tendency of reduction for these foodstuffs in Armenia, which have a high specific weight in the
consumer basket, T. Sarkisyan said. The premier charged the Economy and finance Ministry, as well as the Central Bank and the Commission for Protection of Economic Competition to submit proposals for control of inflation. "The problem of prices is in the center of the government's attention and, first of all, we shall carry out inspections in the organizations, where the rise in prices is not adequate to the world tendencies", the premier said.

To recall, according to the data of the National Statistical Service of Armenia, inflation in Armenia in April, as compared with March, made up 1,1%, over Jan-Apr - 6%. The annual inflation indicator has been fixed by the budget 2008 at 4% level with deviations at the rate of 1,5%,,however, the experts forecast to 10%.


Finance and banks

2008-05-29 15:24:00 Exchange rate of dram against US dollar and EUR

ArmInfo Today, the maximum buying rates at commercial banks of Yerevan were 305,5 drams for 1 dollar, 480drams for 1 EUR and 12,8 drams for 1 Russian ruble. The minimum selling rates stood at 307 drams for 1 dollar, 481 drams for 1 EUR and 13,5 drams for 1 Russian ruble.