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KOCHARYAN CALLS FOR "DRASTIC CHANGES", BUT NOT "CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS"
POLITICS | 23.01.15 | 13:18
Former president Robert Kocharyan has called for "drastic changes" in
the country to deal with the current economic challenges, stressing,
however, that "the matter surely does not concern the constitutional
reform."
In the latest interview published by his unofficial website, 2rd.am,
Kocharyan again criticized the current government over a number of
economic and political issues, suggesting that the current authorities
should "admit the existence of the fundamental problems and be disposed
for a frank dialogue with the society and businesses around ways of
quitting the formed situation and the crisis."
Reflecting on the latest most controversial case in Gyumri where many
residents were angered by the behavior of the Armenian authorities in
the wake of a brutal murder of a local family by a Russian serviceman,
Kocharyan stressed that the authorities should have acted very fast to
prevent such sentiments by providing assurances that the murder will
be investigated by Armenian law-enforcement bodies and the criminal
will stand trial in Armenia.
"I am sure that it was simply necessary both for the Armenian
and Russian sides, as this way all attempts to speculate on
Armenian-Russian relations within the context of a concrete tragedy
would have been precluded," the ex-president emphasized. "The vague,
contradictory and confusing statements by our officials added fuel
to the fire."
Commenting on the currency market turbulence in December, Kocharyan
expressed an opinion that external factors on which the government
blamed the situation "could not be the reason for the ailment of our
economy, but only revealed its already existing disease."
The dram that traded at around 415 per USD in late November fell
as low as 600 at one point on December 17 on the news of a fast
depreciating Russian ruble and alleged outflows of hard currency from
the country. The national currency rebounded strongly after that,
but still showed a more than 15 percent decrease before stabilizing at
around 475 drams per USD after some actions taken by the Central Bank
and the government. The situation resulted in price hikes and paralyzed
many businesses for days in conditions of currency market uncertainty.
"Urgent and coordinated actions of all institutions of government
were necessary, with the application of all instruments - monetary,
fiscal, administrative. Judging by the results, those actions were
belated and with shortcomings," said Kocharyan.
The former president also addressed other economic concerns in
view of Armenia's recent accession to the Eurasian Economic Union,
the downgrading of the country's issuer and government bond rating
by Moody's that, among other things, also cited Armenian membership
in the Russian-led trade bloc. In this view, Kocharyan stressed that
"it will be extremely difficult to solve the numerous problems without
drastic changes."
http://armenianow.com/news/politics/60059/armenia_former_president_robert_kocharyan_governme nt_criticism
From: Baghdasarian
POLITICS | 23.01.15 | 13:18
Former president Robert Kocharyan has called for "drastic changes" in
the country to deal with the current economic challenges, stressing,
however, that "the matter surely does not concern the constitutional
reform."
In the latest interview published by his unofficial website, 2rd.am,
Kocharyan again criticized the current government over a number of
economic and political issues, suggesting that the current authorities
should "admit the existence of the fundamental problems and be disposed
for a frank dialogue with the society and businesses around ways of
quitting the formed situation and the crisis."
Reflecting on the latest most controversial case in Gyumri where many
residents were angered by the behavior of the Armenian authorities in
the wake of a brutal murder of a local family by a Russian serviceman,
Kocharyan stressed that the authorities should have acted very fast to
prevent such sentiments by providing assurances that the murder will
be investigated by Armenian law-enforcement bodies and the criminal
will stand trial in Armenia.
"I am sure that it was simply necessary both for the Armenian
and Russian sides, as this way all attempts to speculate on
Armenian-Russian relations within the context of a concrete tragedy
would have been precluded," the ex-president emphasized. "The vague,
contradictory and confusing statements by our officials added fuel
to the fire."
Commenting on the currency market turbulence in December, Kocharyan
expressed an opinion that external factors on which the government
blamed the situation "could not be the reason for the ailment of our
economy, but only revealed its already existing disease."
The dram that traded at around 415 per USD in late November fell
as low as 600 at one point on December 17 on the news of a fast
depreciating Russian ruble and alleged outflows of hard currency from
the country. The national currency rebounded strongly after that,
but still showed a more than 15 percent decrease before stabilizing at
around 475 drams per USD after some actions taken by the Central Bank
and the government. The situation resulted in price hikes and paralyzed
many businesses for days in conditions of currency market uncertainty.
"Urgent and coordinated actions of all institutions of government
were necessary, with the application of all instruments - monetary,
fiscal, administrative. Judging by the results, those actions were
belated and with shortcomings," said Kocharyan.
The former president also addressed other economic concerns in
view of Armenia's recent accession to the Eurasian Economic Union,
the downgrading of the country's issuer and government bond rating
by Moody's that, among other things, also cited Armenian membership
in the Russian-led trade bloc. In this view, Kocharyan stressed that
"it will be extremely difficult to solve the numerous problems without
drastic changes."
http://armenianow.com/news/politics/60059/armenia_former_president_robert_kocharyan_governme nt_criticism
From: Baghdasarian