Justice reforms

On 3 February, the Armenian parliament convened an emergency session to consider and approve a string of judicial reforms, which are being opposed by the opposition on the ground that the government-designed reforms are untimely.

“This legislative initiative proposes to separate the oversight over the inter-judicial trial from the examination of the case,” stated Armenia’s Justice Minister Rustam Badasyan. In particular, it was proposed to separate the oversight of the inter-judicial trial from the examination of the cases in the Yerevan courts of first instance. These are cases such as the decision to impose judicial sanctions for inspections, the decision to remand someone in custody, as well as various cases related to the legality of the decision to arrest a person and so forth. 

As for the Armenian provinces, in this case the Ministry of Justice proposed to have separate judges who, unlike the judges of Yerevan who examine criminal cases, in addition to criminal cases, will also specialize in the cases of judicial oversight over inter-judicial proceedings. Referring to the issue of the Court of Appeal, Badasyan stated that it was proposed to add three more judges to the current judges of this court, and they will specialize in judicial oversight of inter-judicial proceedings.

Both opposition parties represented in the parliament (Prosperous Armenia and Bright Armenia) rejected the bill, saying that the authorities should address the far more pressing security challenges facing Armenia and Karabakh. “These issues are not addressed because the authorities have what they see as a much more important agenda: how to increase the number of judges approving arrest warrants,” said Naira Zohrabian of the opposition Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK).

“If you have brought a bill for example on adopting law on de-occupation of the territories of Karabakh, or bill on making changes in the law on arms I would have understood, if you have brought a bill on radical changes in the apartment construction sector I would have understood as today’s priority is security issue. Now you have brought judicial legislation. You know that I am for the judicial reforms, but I don’t understand convening an extraordinary session on this issue,” said Taron Simonyan from Bright Armenia. “Changes to the Judicial Code are also important, but there is a need to regulate the supply of weapons, there are problems in the border areas. But, leaving all this aside, you are working on the priorities that were relevant 1-2 years ago,” he added.

Social reforms

Armenia’s Minister of Labour and Social Affairs Mesrop Arakelyan also spoke on the session, stating that all of the social issues in Karabakh were resolved. "The most important confirmation of that is the fact that there were several hundred inhabitants in Karabakh on 10 November, whereas today the population of Karabakh is more than 100 thousand people,” he stated. Arakelyan further stressed that all those who have a permanent residence in Karabakh, as well as some residents—about 5,000—who lost their homes due to a number of territories coming under the control of Azerbaijan, have returned to Karabakh. 

He also reminded attendees that all civilian infrastructures in Karabakh were destroyed as a result of the recent war, but now the natural gas and electricity supplies have been fully restored, and communication has been partially restored. In addition, the government of Armenia has provided 15 billion drams in direct assistance to the Armenian population of Karabakh; and this assistance, according to the minister, enables the people of Karabakh to meet their needs. However, Arakelyan added that the budget revenues of the de facto Karabakh authorities have decreased by 50 billion drams but added that this amount will be covered by the state budget of Armenia.

Another important reform from the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs was the introduction of a single social security service in the country. Arakelyan said that the single social security service will unite the social service, the system of family benefits, the disability and employment and pensions systems. According to him, the new single social security system will be introduced on 1 April 2021. The minister said also that as a result of these changes all 1,824 social security workers across the country will keep their jobs, no one will be laid off. He said also that the institution of a social assistant will be introduced, since people in a difficult situation need not only financial or material assistance, but also psychological support. According to him, this service will first be aimed at disabled people, old people and children.

Economic developments 

On the economic side, the governor of Armenia’s Central Bank Martin Galstyan confirmed the reports that Armenia has issued its fourth Eurobond worth $750 million to manage its increased public debt and budget deficit. Galstyan said that the dollar-denominated bonds, repayable in 10 years at an annual yield of almost 3.9%, attracted strong interest from foreign investors. “Never before has there been so much demand for bonds issued by Armenia,” he told reporters. “This has to do with a number of factors. International financial institutions and investors have accumulated large amounts of cash, and they are looking to see where to invest them.” The Armenian government has not yet commented on the latest Eurobond issue. It is not clear whether it plans to use the proceeds to fully or partly buy back $500 million in similar bonds sold at a 4.2% yield in September 2019.

It should be noted that the Armenian government already resorted to additional external borrowing last year to make up for a significant shortfall in its tax revenues resulting from an economic recession caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. As a result, Armenia’s public debt rose by $647 million, to almost $8 billion, in the course of 2020. The debt is projected to pass the $9 billion mark this year. 

Opposition protest in Yerevan

Meanwhile, in the Armenian capital of Yerevan, a protest organised by the Homeland Salvation Movement was staged in front of the National Assembly. Protesters brought backpacks filled with manure, which they threw inside the gates of the parliament. The protesters said that this symbolised the pro-government parliamentarians who, according to them, make anti-Armenian statements.

The red beret special forces of the Police of Armenia forcibly apprehended some of the citizens protesting outside the National Assembly building. Gegham Manukyan, a member of the opposition Armenian Revolutionary Federation-ARF Dashnaktsutyun Party was also among those seized.

A day prior to the protests, the six leaders of the movement- Armenia’s second president Robert Kocharyan, third president and Republican Party leader Serzh Sargsyan, BHK leader Gagik Tsarukyan, ARF-D Supreme Body member Ishkhan Saghatelyan, candidate for prime minister post Vazgen Manukyan and leader of Fatherland (Hayrenik) party Artur Vanetsyan- met to discuss the further activities of the movement. Homeland party spokesperson Sos Hakobyan told that the movement will continue its activity at large scale. “We will intensify the street fight,” he noted, adding that their movement excludes cooperation with the authorities.  Asked whether they discussed the possibility of replacing the prime minister candidate, Hakobyan said he does not possess such information. 

Republican party spokesperson Eduard Sharmazanov also said that such discussion did not take place, and that Manukyan still remains the movement's candidate for the prime minister spot. Sharmazanov also said that the issue of snap elections was not on the meeting’s agenda, adding that as long as the country’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is in power it is absurd to speak of fair, ideological competition. Similar statements were stated by Saghatelyan. It was also announced that another rally of the movement would take place on 20 February. 

As the protests in the country’s capital unfolded, Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan went to the town of Artashat in the Ararat province to hold consultations with the town’s authorities and local population. It was noteworthy that this time, however, Pashinyan did not go on livestream from his meeting with the residents, as he used to do before, but rather posted an edited video. During the tour, Pashinyan was accompanied by Minister of Territorial Administration Suren Papikyan and a large number of bodyguards. Also, Pashinyan made a noteworthy remark that an influx of people would start in Armenia after the reopening of the air communication with Russia (scheduled for 15 February), and then the trade would increase.