The Armenian police have refused to launch criminal proceedings against pro-government students that forcibly prevented journalists from covering a supposedly public defense of Yerevan Mayor Taron Markarian’s controversial doctoral dissertation.
An opposition-controlled commission tasked with counting lawmakers’ votes on Thursday declared invalid the ratification by Armenia’s parliament of a controversial agreement signed by the Armenian government and Russia’s Gazprom monopoly.
The pro-government majority in the Armenian parliament ratified on Monday a highly controversial gas agreement with Russia, in a vote which was denounced as invalid by Armenia’s leading opposition forces and accompanied by fresh street protests. (UPDATED)
Lawmakers from leading Armenian opposition forces lashed out at the government on Friday as it sought parliamentary ratification of a controversial agreement with Gazprom that guarantees an irreversible privileged status for the Russian gas giant in Armenia for the next 30 years.
The Constitutional Court upheld on Thursday the legality of the Armenian government’s latest agreements with the Gazprom gas monopoly which critics say will make Armenia even more dependent on Russia for energy.
An agreement signed during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent visit to Yerevan bars Armenia from changing for the next 30 years the regulatory environment for its domestic gas distribution network controlled by Russia’s Gazprom giant, it emerged on Tuesday.
The United States has again refused to resume multimillion-dollar economic assistance to Armenia under its Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) program designed to foster reforms in developing nations.
The Armenian parliamentary opposition said on Tuesday that it will appeal to the Constitutional Court to scrap a controversial reform of the national pension system that has triggered continuing street protests by mostly young professionals.
Hundreds of mostly young Armenians again took to the streets of Yerevan on Thursday to protest against a controversial pension reform that will effectively lower their wages.
The ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) thwarted on Friday an opposition-initiated parliament debate on the government’s controversial reform of the national pension system fiercely opposed by many young and well-paid professionals.
Two opposition deputies complained on Friday that the Armenian authorities are still refusing to allow them to meet any of the 14 anti-government protesters that were arrested after clashing with riot police in Yerevan last week.
The head of an Armenian parliamentary oversight body was careful not to again allege government abuses on Monday as he addressed the National Assembly four months after being harshly criticized by President Serzh Sarkisian.
Armenia’s mainstream opposition forces distanced themselves on Wednesday from a radical activist’s purported attempt to topple the government, while blaming the latter for the root causes of the Tuesday’s street clashes in Yerevan.
Parliament speaker Hovik Abrahamian on Wednesday removed an opposition deputy from the Armenian delegation at the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) for embarrassing President Serzh Sarkisian in the Strasbourg-based body earlier this month.
Parliament speaker Hovik Abrahamian blamed on Monday an outspoken opposition lawmaker for her recent altercation with Russian border guards that provoked opposition allegations of a gross violation of Armenia’s sovereignty.
The issue of providing a government subsidy for the recently increased price of Russian natural gas is no longer “on the agenda” after Armenia’s decision to join the Moscow-led Customs Union, the country’s energy minister said on Tuesday.
The opposition Zharangutyun (Heritage) party decried the “political persecution” of one of its parliament deputies on Friday as she received more public insults from pro-government colleagues for accusing President Serzh Sarkisian of gambling.
The National Assembly approved on Tuesday President Serzh Sarkisian’s pick for Armenia’s new prosecutor-general amid surprisingly little resistance from its opposition minority.
President Serzh Sarkisian has asked the Armenian parliament to call another general amnesty that could lead to the release of two government critics regarded by their supporters as political prisoners, it emerged on Monday.
A 35-year-old law-enforcement official close to President Serzh Sarkisian is poised to become Armenia’s new prosecutor-general.
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