47% of Yerevan residents favor authorities-ANC dialogue June 22, 2011 - 15:17 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - 47% of Yerevan residents are positive towards a political dialogue between the authorities and opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC). As Armenian Sociological Association chairman Gevorg Poghosyan told a news conference in Yerevan, 20% of those polled didn’t favor the process. 37% said the dialogue will help improve the authorities’ rating, while 20% believe it will boost the opposition’s popularity. 600 Yerevan residents participated in a poll. From February 20, 2008, the Armenian opposition led by first president Levon Ter-Petrossian, who ran for presidency in 2008, but was not elected, held rallies in the central part of Yerevan, protesting against the election results. The protest actions resulted in unrest and clashes between the police and rally participants on March 1-2. According to the Office of RA Prosecutor General, around 200 people were injured, 10 people were killed, and over 100 people were arrested. In May 2011, President Serzh Sargsyan offered the National Assembly to declare amnesty on occasion of the 20th anniversary of Armenia’s independence, the proposal being based on article 81.1.1 of the RA Constitution and article 90 of the law on National Assembly regulations. With a vote 91-0, the Armenian parliament approved the proposal for amnesty for 396 people to be released and 379 to have their sentence cut. During a recent political council session, Armenian National Congress (ANC) named the composition of ANC delegation to negotiate with the authorities. The delegation includes ANC coordinator Levon Zurabyan, representative of the central bureau David Shahnazaryan, a member of ANC economic committee, the head of ANC structure in Malatya Vahagn Khachatryan, People’s Party of Armenia secretary Felix Khachatryan and deputy head of Armenian National Movement Samvel Abrahamyan. Top stories President of the Armenian parliament Alen Simonyan met with the Speaker of the Azerbaijani Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova. Achieving stable peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan remains a priority of the OSCE, said Ian Borg. 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. Partner news | International cybercrime ringleaders arrested in Armenia, Ukraine Europol, Europe's crime agency, has arrested four ringleaders of several cybercrime networks that used botnets. Armenia skips CSTO Defense Ministers meeting A meeting of the Council of Defense Ministers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization countries began in Almaty. Armenia, U.S. customs authorities to boost assistance with new deal The government has approved an agreement with the U.S. government on mutual assistance between the customs authorities. Armenia, Russia agree on repairing railway destroyed in floods Yerevan and Moscow have agreed to repair a flood-stricken railway in northern Armenia. |