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November 2-4, 2003 |
President
Robert Kocharian orders the prosecutor-general's office to determine
the causes of the recent seepage of untreated sewage into drinking-water
supplies in northern districts of Yerevan. Investigators believe violations
of sanitary norms by the state-owned municipal Water Board are believed
to have been the main causes for the outbreak. More than 187 people,
mostly children under the age of 14, have been hospitalized in the
Arabkir district of northern Yerevan with dysentery or similar intestinal
infections that authorities attribute to contaminated drinking-water
supplies. Municipal authorities revealed that as a result of heavy
rains, sewage seeped into drinking water supplies and admit that the
local population was not warned of the dangers of the incident. |
| November
4, 2003 |
The
Armenian parliament votes to amend the country’s Criminal Code, passing
a measure denying the right of parole for criminals sentenced to life
imprisonment for grave crimes. Under the prior law, such prisoners
were eligible for parole after serving a sentence of twenty years.
The amendment was an obvious move to ensure that the five gunmen now
awaiting a verdict in their trial for the October 1999 murder of eight
senior officials in the Armenian parliament will never be released
from prison. |
| November
4-5, 2003 |
Russian
Security Council Secretary Vladimir Rushailo meets with his Armenian
counterpart Serzh Sarkisian and Interior Minister Haik Harutiunian
in Yerevan to discuss bilateral cooperation in combating terrorism
and organized crime. Rushailo also meets with Prime Minister Andranik
Markarian to review the implementation of the “assets-for-debts” framework
agreement under which Moscow acquired three Armenian research institutes,
a thermal-power plant, and the Mars electronics plant, in exchange
for the cancellation of Armenian debt to Russia. None of these enterprises
are functioning, despite the Armenian government’s justification of
the deals as a means to provide for further investment and job creation.
The Russian official also meets with parliamentary speaker Artur Baghdasarian
and President Kocharian the next day, to discuss issues of regional
security and the Nagorno Karabagh conflict. |
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November 6, 2003 |
After
a series of repeated delays, the Armenian government finally approves
a new anticorruption program drafted with the encouragement and financial
support of the World Bank. The program was revised several times over
the past two months after sharp criticism from the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation (ARF), a junior member of the pro-government coalition.
The ARF succeeded in adding several measures to strengthen the program
and was able to overcome a long delay by forcing a vote on the plan
in the parliament. |
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November 7, 2003 |
The
head of the Armenian parliamentary Audit Chamber, Gagik Voskanian,
announces that the new owners of 17 of the 44 privatized companies
inspected by the Audit Chamber over the past year have failed to meet
their contractual commitments in terms of investment and jobs creation.
In a report circulated last month, the Audit Chamber criticized the
delays and lack of transparency in implementing the government's three-year
privatization program. |
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November 8, 2003 |
Speaking
at the congress of the Orinats Yerkir (Law-Based State) party of which
he is chairman, parliamentary speaker Artur Baghdasarian questions
the accuracy of recently released economic data and accuses the government
headed by Prime Minister Andranik Markarian of turning a blind eye
to widespread corruption. Baghdasarian explains that the results of
the economic policies implemented over the past decade have led to
an escalation of widespread poverty and questions the accuracy of
data showing that the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew
by 15 percent year-on-year during the first nine months of 2003. In
response, Prime Minister Markarian rejects the speaker’s corruption
allegations, noting that it was the HHK which first proposed a new
program to combat corruption. The Orinats Yerkir party is a junior
partner in the coalition government headed by Markarian's Republican
Party of Armenia (HHK). |
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November 9-10, 2003 |
International
Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Horst Koehler meets in Yerevan
with President Kocharian, Prime Minister Markarian and Central Bank
Chairman Tigran Sarkisian, to discuss the course of the government’s
economic reform program. The IMF official states that he is “very
encouraged” by the government’s “vision of economic development” and
notes that Armenia's economic growth in recent years is “impressive”
although “rather narrowly based.” He adds, however, that there is
“no room for complacency,” as “too many people are in poverty.” Koehler
also announces that the IMF will soon disburse the fifth $14 million
tranche of its three-year, $95 million Poverty Reduction and Growth
Facility Loan that was launched in May 2001. |
| November
10-11, 2003 |
Speaking
in his final court statement, Nairi Hunanian says that he and four
accomplices charged with shooting eight senior officials in the Armenian
parliament in October 1999 intended only to remove Prime Minister
Vazgen Sarkisian and his “brutal” cabinet. Hunanian adds that by killing
Sarkisian, he helped to “restore constitutional order” and strengthened
the position of President Robert Kocharian and Armenia's international
reputation, but stresses that he never intended to force Kocharian's
resignation. Hunanian fails to mention in his final speech the fact
that he initially implicated Kocharian's then chief of staff Aleksan
Harutiunian in the killings but subsequently retracted that testimony,
nor does he address the still open question of whether he acted on
his own initiative. |
| November
10-12, 2003 |
Russian
Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov meets with President Robert Kocharian,
Prime Minister Andranik Markarian, parliament speaker Artur Baghdasarian,
and with his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sarkisian during a visit to
Yerevan. On the first day of the visit, the two defense ministers
conclude a series of agreements calling for the consolidation of the
3,000-man Russian military facilities at Gumri in northern Armenia
into one base, in accordance with Russian defense ministry plans.
Under the agreements, Armenia promises to provide additional territory
for the combined base and agrees to pay for public utilities to the
Russian military base (the total annual cost of those services is
estimated at some $1.5 million). The Russian defense minister also
announces that Russia will continue to supply Armenia with weaponry
and military hardware, but notes that the material will be limited
to “a purely defensive nature.” A Russian military aircraft crashes
in northern Armenia the next day, killing the pilot. |
| November
11, 2003 |
The
Armenian parliamentary Finance and Economy Committee approves the
government's proposed 12 percent increase in defense spending in 2004
to 49.6 billion drams ($87 million). Committee Chairman Gagik Minasian
explains that the increase “will raise our defense to a new level.”
Defense spending remains the largest single item of the draft budget,
accounting for over 13 percent of all planned expenditures. In later
testimony to parliament justifying the proposed increase, Defense
Minister Serzh Sarkisian reveals that military hardware to be acquired
next year will not be paid for from the official defense budget, adding
“to put it more simply, no arms purchases will affect soldiers' food
rations, clothing and other things.” Sarkisian fails to specify from
what non-budgetary sources the planned new acquisitions will be financed,
however, but stresses that the funds to be used are fully legal.
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| November
12, 2003 |
The
Armenian embassy in Tbilisi issues a statement clarifying that Armenia
will under no circumstances “take any actions that might damage the
Georgian state or be regarded as interference in its internal affairs.”
The statement further criticizes as “inadmissible” Georgian media
speculation that the large Armenian minority in southern Georgia might
be induced to back one or another party in the inner-political conflict,
and stresses that the Armenian community in Georgia is “sincerely
interested” in preserving that country's “unity, stability, and prosperity.”
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| November
14, 2003 |
Presiding judge Samvel Uzunian orders an end to the trial of five
men accused of the October 1999 murders of eight senior officials
in the parliament chamber. The presiding justice cuts short the final
speech of Nairi Hunanian, the leader of the five defendants, just
as he was about to reveal “new circumstances” relevant to the shootings.
Relatives of the murdered men who are convinced that the five men
did not act alone were hoping that Hunanian's promised disclosures
would substantiate that hypothesis. The trial has been underway since
February 2001, and the judge is expected to convict the accused and
to rule in favor of the prosecutors' request for life sentences for
all five defendants. |
| November
18, 2003 |
The
trial of a dozen men accused of planning and committing the December
2002 murder of Armenian Public Television head Tigran Naghdalian ends
with the sentencing of businessman Armen Sarkisian, whose brother
Aram is a former prime minister and a prominent opposition politician,
to a fifteen-year prison term after being found guilty of masterminding
and financing the killing. Sarkisian has repeatedly denied any connection
with the murder. Codefendant John Harutiunian is also found guilty
of committing the murder and also receives a fifteen-year sentence.
The remaining defendants receive prison terms ranging from seven to
twelve years. |
| November
19, 2003 |
Deputy
Commander of U.S. Forces in Europe General Charles Wald meets with
Armenian Defense Minister and National Security Council head Serzh
Sarkisian, during a visit to Yerevan. The officials discuss issues
related to bilateral military cooperation, regional security, and
combating terrorism. The U.S. general adds that the Pentagon does
not exclude future cooperation between U.S. forces in Europe and the
Russian-Armenian joint military group to be established within the
framework of the CIS Collective Security Treaty Organization.
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| November
23-24, 2003 |
Officials
of more than half of the 116 political parties currently registered
with the justice ministry formally applied for registration in accordance
with the revised November 2002 law requiring political parties to
re-register with the government. Justice ministry officials report
that 22 of those 59 have been reregistered to date. Of the five parties
that are represented by factions in parliament, the three members
of the government coalition have been registered. Two of the nine
parties comprising the opposition Artarutiun faction have not yet
been re-registered, including the People's Party of Armenia headed
by defeated presidential challenger Stepan Demirchian. |
| November
24, 2003 |
Following
a meeting in New York, officials of the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) agreed to release a $14 million tranche of a three-year, $100
million Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility Loan launched in May
2001. In a written statement, IMF Deputy Managing Director Agustin
Carstens praises Armenia's “very strong economic performance,” which
he attributes to “prudent macroeconomic policies and structural reforms,”
but urges the Armenian leadership to boost tax collection in order
to be able to increase social spending, and to crack down on widespread
corruption in order to improve the business climate. |
| November
28, 2003 |
The
Armenian justice ministry formally reregisters the Hanrapetutiun (Republic)
party led by former Prime Minister Aram Sarkisian, in accordance with
the law on political parties. The move brings the total number of
re-certified political parties to forty-three, with the applications
for another sixteen parties still pending. |
| November
29, 2003 |
Opposition
National Accord Party (AMK) Chairman Artashes Geghamian announces
plans to demand that parliament set a date by February 2004 for a
national referendum of confidence in President Kocharian. Last month,
the parliament failed to vote down a proposal by the opposition Artarutiun
(Justice) bloc to include in its agenda a debate on amending the law
on referendums to make such a plebiscite possible, but subsequently
decided to postpone that debate indefinitely. The Constitutional Court
suggested such a national vote of confidence in April when it rejected
Artarutiun's demand that the February-March presidential election
results be annulled. |
| November
30, 2003 |
Russian
President Putin meets with Armenian President Kocharian in St. Petersburg
to discuss economic issues, including Armenia's debt to Russia, and
the prospects for resolving the Nagorno Karabagh conflict. Commenting
on the Karabagh issue, the Russian president characterizes Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev's position on Karabagh as “positive,” and the
Russian deputy presidential chief of staff and presidential foreign
affairs adviser Prikhodko adds that Moscow believes the only way to
resolve the conflict is through direct dialogue between the presidents
of Armenia and Azerbaijan. |
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