Report: Armenia nearing threshold of consolidated authoritarian regimeApril 4, 2017 - 12:33 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenia falls near the threshold for designation as a consolidated authoritarian regime in the Nations in Transit report prepared by the Freedom House. However, the report said, Armenia retains a measure of political pluralism that prevents total domination by one person or group. The Nations in Transition report covers 29 postcommunist countries of the former Soviet Union and in Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans. In the report, Armenia is the only country to be identified as a semi-consolidated authoritarian regime, with Belarus, Russia and Azerbaijan characterized as consolidated authoritarian regimes. Commenting on the referendum on constitutional amendments held back in 2015, the report suggests that those overhauls are seen as a way for president Serzh Sargsyan to preserve his power (and assets). “In Armenia, aside from the shift of powers to the parliament, the most significant provision of the revised constitution was a new system for ensuring a “stable majority” following elections. This procedure grants extra seats to the party that wins a plurality in the general elections, strengthening its hand in government formation,” the report says. “The parliamentary system is simply a mechanism for ensuring that the RPA will remain in power for the foreseeable future.” Armenia’s democracy score declined from 5.36 to 5.39 in a scale of 1-7 (1=most democratic, 7=least democratic). In the meantime, Azerbaijan’s democracy score declined from 6.86 to 6.93, Russia’s declined from 6.50 to 6.57, while Georgia’s remained unchanged at 4.61. Top stories The Cabinet of Ministers decided on Thursday, November 9 to allocated AMD 120 million to arrange the gathering. Michael Roth believes sanctions must be put on the table after Baku‘s ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh. The Yerevan City Council has elected Tigran Avniyan from the ruling Civil Contract as the mayor of the Armenian capital. The Armenian Parliament on Tuesday, October 3 voted to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Partner news | Titus, Bilirakis lead legislation to sanction Azerbaijani war criminals Representatives Dina Titus (D-NV) and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) have introduced the bipartisan legislation. Azerbaijan must respect human rights, Scholz tells Aliyev German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called for greater respect for human rights in Azerbaijan. Armenia: Defense Ministry warns against involving army in political processes The Ministry’s statement came after a video surfaced online, showing soldiers joining the protests in Tavush. Scholz hopes Armenia-Azerbaijan peace treaty will be signed this year German Chancellor Olaf Scholz hopes that a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan will be signed this year. |