PNLTC

Main Menu

  • Lego Tricks
  • Lego Layout
  • Lego Train Clubs
  • Lego Train Display
  • Capital

PNLTC

Header Banner

PNLTC

  • Lego Tricks
  • Lego Layout
  • Lego Train Clubs
  • Lego Train Display
  • Capital
Lego Train Display
Home›Lego Train Display›Armenian reformers struggle | openDemocracy

Armenian reformers struggle | openDemocracy

By Theodore Criswell
April 19, 2021
0
0



The nomination of candidates for the Constitutional Court has caused further controversy and disappointment among supporters of the reform. First, the government appointed Vahram Avetisyan, head of the civil law faculty of Yerevan State University. The nomination was apparently obtained by the Minister of Justice, Rustam Badasyan, a former student of Avetisyan.

Several civil society organizations and former political prisoners protested, warning of a possible conflict of interest because Avetisyan had not been examined. Avetisyan’s father, David – the former president of the Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation – had previously convicted a number of opposition activists who protested against the fraudulent 2008 presidential election.

Ultimately, Vahram Avetisyan withdrew his candidacy. The replacement proposed by the government, Edgar Shatiryan, also disappointed some activists. Shatiryan had previously been a member of the Committee for Ethical Behavior of Public Servants since 2015, monitoring possible conflicts of interest. Yet although many believed the former Armenian government to be corrupt, Shatiryan did not speak out on significant transgressions.

The second appointment also sparked controversy. After the amendment of Article 213 following the departure of President Sargsyan, his successor Armen Sargsyan (unrelated) expressed the wish to have more powers, including that of directly appointing the members of the Constitutional Court . Parliament rejected an attempt by the new president to fire a judge, Arthur Vagharshyan, whom he had previously unsuccessfully proposed for another role in 2019.

The third and final appointment – this time by the General Assembly of Judges – looked like a show of contempt for supporters of the 2018 revolution, including Nikol Pashinyan himself. The candidate, Yervand Khundkaryan, had been president of the civil chamber of the court of cassation since 2010. Thirteen of his verdicts were overturned by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and Armenia was forced to pay 312 € 000 in compensation. Therefore.

In May 2019, when Pashinyan announced that all judges should be reviewed, one of his explicit demands was that any judge whose verdicts had violated the rights of defendants and had ultimately been overturned by the ECHR should voluntarily resign or be sacked. . No voluntary resignations followed, and by 2020 the Armenian justice ministry abandoned the idea of ​​vetting judges.

The parliamentary majority voted in favor of the three candidates on September 15, 2020, with virtually no debate. Only two or three members of the My Step fraction voted against each of the candidates; one of them, who had previously worked in the NGO sector, eventually resigned his post.

This inconsistency with the government’s pre-election promises, as well as with Pashinyan’s own explicit request, heightened doubts about the political will to implement reforms. Several officials, including the Minister of Justice, have been embroiled in disputes with representatives of civil society, former political prisoners and other critics.

As those arguments resonated, the unreformed justice system overturned the pre-trial detention of a number of former acting officials suspected of crimes. In an obvious conflict of interest, the judiciary appointed Judge Armenuhi Badiryan, the wife of former President Kocharyan’s defense attorney, to examine a lawsuit brought against the government by Kocharyan himself.

The post-war situation

Since the disastrous war with Azerbaijan last fall and the resulting political instability in his country, Armenian civil society has found itself in an even more difficult situation.

For the supporters of the revolution, the disappointment worsened. The government initially refused to view the snap elections as a way to resolve the current post-war political crisis. In mid-March, the government relented, agreeing to hold an election in June, but without changing the current problematic electoral code, apparently after a deal with two small parliamentary alliances.

Some reformers have called for the country’s mixed member proportional system to be changed to a simple member proportional system, amid fears that the current way of holding elections favors parties currently in parliament, as well as those that cultivate oligarch and clan support. local. On April 1, the My Step alliance made another U-turn and voted to change the electoral code.



Related posts:

  1. Mandalorian, Clone Wars, Lego Luigi
  2. No more delayed attractions at American Dream
  3. Model train plays record-breaking tune with 2,840 water glasses
  4. LEGO Ideas Lisbon Tram Reaches 10K Supporters

Recent Posts

  • Lumafield CT Scan Reveals Inside Classic iPods
  • The 10 best Apple Arcade games in May 2022
  • LEGO’s ‘The Starry Night’ set pays homage to Van Gogh’s famous painting
  • Official announcement of LEGO Ideas The Starry Night (21333)
  • LEGO Art 31206: The Rolling Stones – You may not always get what you want, but it might be what you need [Review] – The brick of the brothers

Archives

  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • August 2018
  • April 2018
  • February 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2015

Categories

  • Capital
  • Lego Layout
  • Lego Train Clubs
  • Lego Train Display
  • Lego Tricks
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy