The illegal candidate.

Below is the section 1 of article 78 of the Armenian electoral code:

Հոդված 78. Հանրապետության Նախագահ առաջադրված թեկնածուների իրավունքները եւ պարտականությունները

1. Գրանցման պահից Հանրապետության Նախագահ առաջադրված այն թեկնածուները, ովքեր գտնվում են պետական ծառայության մեջ կամ աշխատում են ինքնակառավարման մարմիններում, ընտրությունների ընթացքում ազատվում են իրենց աշխատանքային պարտականությունները կատարելուց եւ իրավունք չունեն օգտագործելու իրենց պաշտոնեական դիրքի առավելությունը: Հանրապետության Նախագահը կամ Սահմանադրության համաձայն՝ Հանրապետության Նախագահի պաշտոնակատարը՝ Ազգային ժողովի նախագահը կամ վարչապետը, Հանրապետության Նախագահի թեկնածու առաջադրվելու դեպքում շարունակում են իրենց լիազորությունների կատարումը, սակայն չպետք է օգտագործեն իրենց պաշտոնեական դիրքի առավելությունը:

2. Հանրապետության Նախագահ առաջադրված թեկնածու գրանցված անձն ազատվում է զորահավաքներից եւ ուսումնավարժական հավաքներից: Այդ ժամանակահատվածում Կենտրոնական ընտրական հանձնաժողովն ընտրությունների կազմակերպման եւ անցկացման համար հատկացված միջոցներից թեկնածուներին վճարում է գումարային փոխհատուցում՝ նրանց միջին աշխատավարձի չափով:

3. Արգելվում է Հանրապետության Նախագահ առաջադրված թեկնածուին ադմինիստարցիայի նախաձեռնությամբ ազատել աշխատանքից, տեղափոխել այլ աշխատանքի կամ գործուղել: Այդ ժամանակահատվածը թեկնածուի համար համարվում է աշխատանքային ստաժ այն մասնագիտությամբ, որով նա աշխատում էր մինչեւ թեկնածու առաջադրվելը:

4. Հանրապետության Նախագահ առաջադրված թեկնածուն, քվեարկությունից մինչեւ 10 օր առաջ, իրավունք ունի հանել իր թեկնածությունը: Այդ դեպքում Կենտրոնական ընտրական հանձնաժողովը տվյալ թեկնածուի գրանցումը ճանաչում է ուժը կորցրած: Թեկնածուն պարտավոր է հատուցել իր առաջադրման եւ նախընտրական քարոզչության համար պետության կողմից կատարած ֆինանսական ծախսերը: Եթե դա կատարվել է առանց որեւէ հարկադրանքի, ապա Կենտրոնական ընտրական հանձնաժողովը հանում է համապատասխան թեկնածությունը՝ թեկնածուից պահանջելով հատուցել ֆինանսական այն ծախսերը, որոնք կատարել է պետությունը նրա առաջադրման եւ նախընտրական քարոզչության համար:

5. Հանրապետության Նախագահ առաջադրված թեկնածուները չեն կարող կալանավորվել, քրեական կամ դատական կարգով վարչական պատասխանատվության ենթարկվել՝ առանց Կենտրոնական ընտրականհանձնաժողովի համաձայնության: Կենտրոնական ընտրական հանձնաժողովը նշված հարցի վերաբերյալ որոշումն ընդունում է հանձնաժողովի անդամների ընդհանուր թվի ձայների երկու երրորդով:

(Փոփ. 23.03.1999, ՀՕ-286, փոփ. եւ լր. 31.07.2002, ՀՕ-406-Ն)

Or, in English:

Article 78: Rights and Responsibilities of Candidates for the President of the Republic

1. From the moment of registration the candidates for the President of the Republic who are in civil service or work in local self-governing bodies, are dismissed from the performance of their professional duties during the election period, and have no right to use the advantage of their office. The President of the Republic of Armenia, or in conformity with the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, the acting President - the Chairman of the National Assembly, or the Prime Minister - in the event of being nominated as a candidate for the President of the Republic, continue the performance of their duties, but shall not use the advantage of their office.

As you can see, Serj Sargsian, the Prime Minister of Armenia and a civil servant, cannot be a PM and a candidate at the same time. The only time a PM can be a candidate is if s/he was an acting President which is not the case.

I am surprised that no one in Armenia has paid attention to the violation of the law and has not brought a case against SS.

Juicy posts.

I guess there are juicy posts here. The Department of Homeland Security occasionally accesses this blog.

Banana Republic.

When a passenger lights a cigarette outside an airplane despite posted warnings endangering the lives of the passengers, what do you do? A big fine would be the least trouble for such a behavior.

But in Cyprus two passengers were let go because of connections with a high ranking police officer. They even had the audacity to sue the airport employee who extinguished their cigarettes for publicly insulting them and bodily injuries.

I left Cyprus mainly because of nepotism found in every sphere of life and unfortunately it still is true today.

Cyprus Mail reports the details of the incident.

Dangerous people.

A few minutes ago I saw a Google ad on this blog for the Turkish Coalition of America. This is a lobbying group based in the US that is there to alter the American policy in favor of Turkey.

They have a page for issues that should have appropriately titled as 'Issues & Misinformations' where they have the burning issues for Turkey. Drilling further down one can reach some of the more notorious hate sites about Armenians. They also have a list of recommended books some of which are about the Dashnaks written by Armenian scholars.

But they do not limit themselves with the genocide. They have a laundry list where they even call the invasion of Cyprus in 1974 a 'Peace Operation'. I was saddened, but not surprised, to see that my congressman Dan Burton (whose office sends me form letters in response to my questions to him) whitewash the invasion of Cyprus in a recent speech.

The site is sleek so it's obvious that a lot of money has been spent on it. Since there are not that many Turkish Americans, it would be interesting to know what the source of the funds are.

The son of Gyumri mayor is out of prison.

Last year there were quite a feww shootouts between armed gangs of young people in the streets of Gyumri, the second largest town in Armenia. One of the gangs was led by the son of the mayor. He was on the run for some time and then was brought to justice.

Now he has been let go. A few bloggers allege that this was in return for the mayor's support for SS (the mayor is from the same party as SS).

I think the mayor has been allowed way too many crimes by him (like a shootout in a cafe where he emptied his handgun at a group of Russian soldiers but missed due to being intoxicated) or his family.

The bloggers also wondered why is that a criminal is out free while war heroes like Jirayr Sefilian, and other political prisoners, are imprisoned on inflated charges.

Well, by definition political prisoners are supposed to be in prison so there is no need to wonder but do something so that there are no political prisoners in Armenia at all.

Afghanistan.

Note to self: Never ever step foot in Afghanistan.

The Afghan parliament happy with the death sentence of a journalist.

Russia promoting a managing director.

After acquiring a major chunk of Armenian assets in strategic areas with low ball bids, now the Russkis are meddling in the presidential elections and as Onnik says, have effectively endorsed SS as the president.

Should the Armenians do what the Russians tell them or should they think by themselves and elect the person on their own accord (be it SS or someone else).

Self perpetuating lies.

It's funny that a blogger can post half baked lies, and then create more lies by quoting the previous ones thus sending any credibility left down the tube.

Tales of disinformation.

Viraboff at LiveJournal has posted a comment on Uzogh's post about the Aravot article that I mention a few blogs below. There he tells of a disinformation campaign by the KGB in 1989. Here it is in Russian:

Я в 89 году издавал в Латвии газету "Луйс". В то время в Армении были введены комендантский час и чрезвычайное положение. Почти все местные издания были закрыты. Газета печаталась в Литве в подпольной типографии у моего вовсю тогда хиповавшего вильнюсского приятеля (который, кстати, сейчас - министр иностранных дел Литвы), после чего тираж перевозился в Ригу и нелегально доставлялся в Ереван.

Так вот, нашу газету делали два человека. Я был главный (как водится!) редактор, а мне помогала моя подруга-латышка Лайла Брице, профессиональный журналист из "Молодежи Латвии". Для солидности мы с Лайлой решили внести в редакционный список наших давно ушедших от нас дедушек, поскольку демонстрировать, что газету делают всего два человека означало бы, кроме всего прочего, значительно облегчить работу КГБ. Я внес имя своего умершего деда по матери, а лайла - своего. Ее дед (тоже по матери), осетин по имени Харитон Закаев, был нами, естественно, переделан под Харитона Закаяна.

И все шло как по маслу, пока меня с грузом тиража не повязала в аэропорту Звартноц наша родная гэбэшная братия. Встречавшие меня серьезно настроенные бородатые ребята меня и груз отбили, но нам пришлось срочно окольными путями и заметия следы ехать в Конд, где в одном из тамошних домов мы и спрятали газеты, которые были потом розданы на одном из митингов.

Но это было только начало.

Через пару дней в одной из ереванских прокоммунистических газет появилась статья, хающая на чем свет стоит нас с Лайлой, - что было полбеды. Там появилось "интервью" с нашими уже умершими дедами, где журналист ставил "острейшие" вопросы и как бы доказывал читателям, что наши с Лайлой умершие деды - отъявленнейшие беспринципные типы, готовые ради "карьеры и власти" пойти на все.

Моя бабушка, всегда читавшая все ереванские газеты, увидев "интервью" со своим давно покойным мужем, была в шоке. Позвонила мне в Ригу, сказала "анамот андастирак (там было много "анов", я все не запомнил) еревуйт!" и положила трубку. Ее затем два дня отпаивали корвалолом.

Милая моя сладкая бабушка и мой лучший в мире дедушка, - простите меня, вашего непутевого внука!

Raising the stakes.

The Serj Sargsian and Robert Kocharian duo is raising the stakes in Armenia. They have started resorting to provocations as witnessed their attempt to create a skirmish and broadcast it across the country and try to smear LTP's campaign. Earlier that day they had also closed down LTP's election campaign headquarters in the town of Kapan.

Today they have impounded the vehicles used by LTP for his campaign.

They just keep upping the pressure.

And Haylur just happened to be there...

Apparently there was an incident in Talin at an LTP rally where a heckler got into a skirmish with a few of the rally participants.

Haylur, the main arm of the government propaganda machine, seems to be the only media outlet to have the video of the incident. The Haylur item is available at the bottom of this article.

I'm seriously thinking about writing a 'How to...' blog entry about spotting your friendly neighborhood secret service video-grapher, various kinds of agent provocateurs and other types of unpleasant folk.

UPDATE: Jirayr Sefilian and Vardan Malkhasian, war heroes and currently political prisoners in Armenia, have distributed a leaflet where they explain who the heckler is. He is indeed a participant of the Arcakh war and a hero. But now he is an informant for the Armenian KGB after a short stint in jail for illegal possession of a firearm.

One small step for Aravot, one giant leap for Armenia.

It looks like the homophobic 'operation soap' by a few of the Armenian bloggers like uzogh, pigh and others a while ago has sparked some interest about blogging in Armenia. Aravot has an article about three of the bloggers from Yerevan - uzogh, irukan and greenrose18 (they also have links to ahoousekeeper and petrucchio). They even have an interview with uzogh himself.

It's good that there is increasing publicity about this. It will hopefully encourage some more people to join and hopefully raise the flow of information originating in Armenia.

Day of the army.

Today is the Army Day in Armenia. Pigh has posted a thank you note (pigh.livejournal.com/60831.html) for Vazgen Manukian. He was one of the first defense ministers of Armenia and was instrumental in forming the army and should be credited for the preservation of Armenia and Gharabagh and for the eventual victory over the enemy.

I want to join Pigh in his thank you and also mention the contributions that thousands of other Armenians from all over the world have had in building a functional army that we have now. A1+ has a snippet with a brief history of the events:

“THE WHOLE NATION CONTRIBUTED TO THE FORMATION OF THE ARMY”
[04:09 pm] 28 January, 2008

On January 28, 1992, Armenia’s President Levon Ter-Petrossian signed a decree on the formation of the Armenian Army. The armed forces of the Defense Ministry had fought full-scale wars for the sake of the country by then.

The first recruitment was organised in 1991 by Defense Minister Valery Poghossian and first Deputy DM Vagharshak Harutiunian.

The newly-formed army was head by first Defense Minister Vazgen Sargsian. Later on Vazgen Manukian, Serzh Sarkissian, Vagharshak Harutiunian and Michael Harutiunian assumed the post.

Specialists say the Armenian army enjoys the highest efficiency in the region. The first large-scale military parade of September 21, 1999, at the head of Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsian and Defense Minister Lieutenant-General Vagharshak Harutiunian testifies to this assessment.

Today we tried to find out Vagharshak Harutiunian’s opinion about the Armenian army. “Independence enabled the Armenian people to determine the country’s future and to win a victory. This is a major achievement. Once we have solved that complicated issue we shall be able to tackle other problems as well.”

Vagharshak Harutiunian considers the army the greatest achievement of independent Armenia. “Surely, it is the highest value of the country. The army was formed thanks the whole nation, the country’s prudent military policy and right assessment of the situation. The combination of all these factors contributed to the formation of the army.”

BBC article about the rocket makers in Gaza.

BBC has an article about the Palestinians from Fatah that build rockets and try to fire them. Despite the mild tone of the article, it's a nice insight about a small self defense group trying to fight against a far superior adversary.

What it reminded me was the beginning of our self defense efforts against the Azeris. The first rockets used were souped up Alazan rockets which were stuffed with pieces of shrapnel. The Azeris used them first and although these were not very accurate, they were the most sophisticated weaponry at the time. By the time we got Alazan rockets, the Azeris had already obtained Grad rockets. Until 1994 they were always a step ahead of us in munitions mostly due to their superior financial resources and because the Soviets had stored far more weaponry there than in Armenia. Plus, the Soviets destroyed most of the munitions in Armenia like the destruction of the Balahovit base or dismantling of the tanks in Vanadzor bases.

Astro/mavro, oneira kano...

Check out this Eurovision song. It's the Cyprus entry for the 1987 contest. The costumes cracked me up :)

Not a bad entry for Eurovision.

Leaf stuck in the snow.

Leaf stuck in the snow., originally uploaded by nazarian.

Just came across this blog.

Big Family blogs about the children in boarding schools in Armenia. I had no idea that there were so many kids that are physically or mentally handicapped.

Please visit the blog and learn more and spread the word.

Whiskas, sea horse and Serzh.

Another funny picture... A pet shop window in Yerevan (the sign actually says Zoological Shop):

by alefalef

Levonator and Serzhadevil.

Ditord had a post a few days ago lamenting the deteriorating conditions on the Armenian blogosphere. He had two hilarious pictures as examples of it:

Here is the Levonator


And here is the Serzhadevil


The more I look at them, the funnier they get even though Ditord labeled them as 'unethical and beyond limits of morality' or something like that. But in a bout of creativity, he himself came up with those funny names for the pictures.

So far I consider these the best output from the election campaign that will alter the culture of the election campaigns. We need more funny caricatures of the political leaders. It's still divided by partisan lines but I hope there are non-partisan funny and talented people out there, too.

Bush stimulus package.

The CNN reports that the Bush administration will be sending out $600 'rebate checks' to the Americans who pay payroll taxes like SS as part of the stimulus package to ward off the risk of recession in our slowing economy.

As is the case with politicians, there was a lot of haggling over it with the Democrats caving in to the Republicans again for reasons that are unknown to me. And despite the large budget deficit that is one of the causes of the current situation, there are going to be further tax cuts. To finance the deficit increase, the government will have to borrow from the market thus increasing demand for money and increase the interest rates. And guess what is the Federal Reserve trying to do. Yes, lower the interest rates as their way of fixing the economy through monetary policy.

Now, if I get down from the macro economics to my own micro level, I have start thinking about what to do with this $600. Do I spend it like the administration wants me to do, or do I behave a little more irresponsibly (irresponsible for the government but responsible for me) and invest it in a risk free tool like a government bond (basically, lending that money to the government so that it could give it to me, plus tax free interest). Or maybe get a little more risk friendly and put it in the stock market - after all, it's free money and I wouldn't mind if its value went down in the short run.

So many choices.

Blog post gone wrong.

A few days ago I posted a photo story about an LTP rally in Yerevan. A few readers commented about the author's biased coverage of LTP and the owner of the pictures required that either the pictures are removed or I disallow any criticism of his work. At first I decided to retain the pictures and censor the comments. But I think that was the wrong decision (the freedom of speech is more dear to me than a post with fancy pictures) so now I have removed the pictures and any reference to the copyrighted material.

Show of force.

[Website...]has posted a few photographs from Levon Ter-Petrossian's rally yesterday. The LTP campaign had a meeting at the Liberty Square and then marched to the Republic Square.

Normally, this would not be a big deal if there was no warning from the Yerevan Municipality about prohibiting any demonstrations or marches by the opposition. By marching LTP wanted to show that the campaign will not be intimidated by such warnings. Surprisingly, the police did not interfere with their brutal suppression as they usually do in such cases.

[photo of a policeman at the rally, removed at the author's request]

The LTP supporters exiting the Liberty Square. A policeman (bottom right corner) is keeping a close eye.

[photo of a KGB operative at the rally, removed at the author's request]

It was not only the police who kept a close eye. A KGB operative (bottom right) films the participants.

Update: According to the LTP campaign, the Yerevan Municipality was notified and the rally was sanctioned under the Armenian law.

Infantile society.

It's amazing how childish garbage, that is the majority of the output from Hollywood, is so popular. No sane adult would spend his or her money to see such films. This week, it turns out, the movie Cloverfield in which a giant insect or something destroys New York. The biggest thing in the movie appears to be the head of the Statue of Liberty lying on the street.

It made 41 million dollars on its opening weekend.

The quote of the day.

“I myself twice won elections in two rounds and know that [in such cases] promises to the people are complemented by obligations to political forces,” added Kocharian. “It is desirable that the next president do not be bound by such obligations.”

This is what RK has said in a televised speech about two round presidential elections according to the Radio Liberty.

WOW! Try to comprehend the arrogance; the guy has not won a single election and now he is talking about the pain of getting elected by two rounds. Of course, he was talking about Serj Sarkisian winning on the first round. It is clear that the regime is preparing grounds for massive fraud.

Azadakrum

I just found a site called Azadakrum (Liberation in Western Armenian) that is dedicated to the cause of freeing Jirayr Sefilian and Vardan Malkhasian. Sefilian and Malkhasian are perhaps the most famous political prisoners currently in jail in Armenia. The other political prisoner I can think of is Arman Babajanian, the founder of Jamanak Yerevan newspaper.

Sefilian and Malkhasian are heroes of the Armenian nation and were instrumental in the liberation of the town of Shushi in Artsakh. A year or so ago they were detained by the Kocharian administration after they expressed their doubts about the commitment of the administration to the independence of Armenia. They were accused of plotting an armed coup d'etat and have been in prison since and their appeals have been ignored by the courts.

Hopefully, after Levon Ter Petrosian becomes the president in February, he will allow the court of appeals to accept their request for review of their case.

Entering the 21-st century.

The Library of Congress has a Flickr account. There, they post scans of historically important photographs from their archives. It's a very important site for anyone who is interested in the US history because one picture is worth a thousand words.

We've been acquiring photos since the mid-1800s when photography was the hot new technology. Because images represent life and the world so vividly, people have long enjoyed exploring our visual collections. Looking at pictures opens new windows to understanding both the past and the present. Favorite photos are often incorporated in books, TV shows, homework assignments, scholarly articles, family histories, and much more.

The Prints & Photographs Division takes care of 14 million of the Library's pictures and features more than 1 million through online catalogs. Offering historical photo collections through Flickr is a welcome opportunity to share some of our most popular images more widely.

:)

A week or so ago SS brought his pre-election site online. In there, he has a photo album with some hilarious pictures that have become the butt of numerous jokes on LiveJournal.

Now, the unofficial supporter site for LTP has posted a funny slide show with these pictures. The captions are in Armenian.

A man walks into a convenience store...

A robber walked into a Village Pantry convenience store in Kokomo, Indiana, this morning and robbed it. While the store clerk was stuffing the loot in a bag, the man put his pistol under his waistband. In the moment of excitement he must have forgotten that loaded and cocked pistols can be easily triggered. That's what happened: His pistol fired accidentally with the bullet passing through his right testicle and left knee cap.

One moment this guy was expecting to become a little bit richer and the next moment he was missing a testicle.

How many books.

Once we were discussing the bookkeeping in Chinese enterprises and someone joked that they have three books instead of the two I suggested. In addition to the books used for official accounts used for taxes and the real one used internally, it was suggested that they have a third one for foreign investors or partners.

I wonder how many books the Armenian enterprises have.

Bush is still beating the drums of war.

Bush is in Middle East and has used the recent contact between Iranian speed boats and our Navy ships as a new evidence to expose the 'evildoers'. He calls Iran an enemy of world peace.

While the neo-imperialist in me would be OK if we took over Iran's resources, the realist in me says that it's probably a very bad idea. We can't even handle the poorly armed civilians in Iraq let alone go and take on a better armed and trained Iranians. They have undoubtedly learned their lessons from Iraq - 'liberating' the Iranians from their government wouldn't be much of a problem but the resulting insurgency will be far worse.

Plus, we are about to enter a recession. The last thing we need is increased volatility in the oil prices.

Talk about making a lemonade.

In the US we have a saying "If life deals you lemons, make lemonade." It basically means to extract the positive aspect out of unpleasant events.

Below is a German propaganda video about the German forces retreat after the Bagration Offensive in summer of 1944. By watching this, one might think that everything is going well. Except that it didn't with 670,000 German soldiers lost.

The Nazis knew how to make good propaganda stuff.

Why I would think twice before investing any money...

Ara Manoogian has had numerous blog entries about the corrupt nature of the Artsakh authorities. Even though they should be a little better than Armenia in order to compensate the risk of attracting investments into a potential war zone, it seems that they behave just like any other third world country. Hetq has an article about a French-Armenian businessman who has tried to invest in NKR but as usually is the case, some powerful government officials are eying his properties.

The Azeris are going to make a lot of noise and discredit NKR so there is a dilemma - should such corrupt practices be hidden and allowed to become more and more prevalent? Or should they be made public in a hope that they are minimized. The first case has short term publicity benefits but dire results in the long term. The second approach may give the Azeris some propaganda material but once fixed, that material would disappear and hopefully seize to be beneficial for the Azeris 5-6 years after the issue is resolved.

Banana Republic.

Sahakashvili, having 'won' his second term in Georgia, is out to get his opponents. The state prosecutor has charged a wealthy businessman for 'plotting a coup' last year with the protests that Mr. Sahakashvili suppressed violently.

China banning those flimsy plastic bags.

The Chinese government is introducing a complete ban of those flimsy plastic bags you see in the supermarkets and such. I am usually against autocratic measures, or intrusion by governments in the private lives of the people and businesses, but the environmentalist in me is pleased.

It's quite upsetting to come across discarded bags wherever you go. We spend a lot of resources cleaning such garbage but you still see bags floating on streets - I have caught them in my undercarriage a number of times the most memorable being a yellow Dollar general bag that I carried from Atlanta to Indianapolis which was stuck to the suspension components in the front flapping incessantly.

The most unsightly display of these bags was on the banks of the Debed river. It is just bizarre to have an upscale hotel on the bank and then see the bags flapping on the tree branches or between rocks on the banks of the river.

When a society doesn't have democratic traditions.

When a society that doesn't have democratic traditions, or all the elections have been marred with shenanigans performed by the authorities, how do you know if the winner of the election is really the winner?

Did Sahakashvili win his second term? Who knows? The opposition says no, the state says yes. After his violent dispersion of peaceful protests by the Georgian citizens, how can a reasonable citizen believe that Sahakashvili is enough of a statesman to realize that clean elections, even if he lost, are important for the long term health of Georgia. The cynics are excused to think that the presidential elections were a baloney.

The same applies to Armenia. Sahakashvili still has some credibility - he has combated corruption, and has relied on violence only once since in power. The current regime in Armenia resorts to violence to solve even the tiniest wrinkle in their plans. The simplest act of distributing leaflets can result in violence by the cops and unlawful detention. The graver the sins against the regime are, such as printing an unfavorable article, or taking part in a protest, can get you bombed, loss of property or even killed.

For such a society to cure sickness, the only solution is for the incumbent not take part in an election. Otherwise even if they honestly get 100% of the vote, no one will believe them.

Levon's plan is now online.

Levon Ter Petrosian has published his pre-election program. I am most interested in the economic aspect of what he plans to do after being elected as the president. Here is the excerpt (in Armenian):

4. Տնտեսական բնագավառում Հայաստանի հաջորդ իշխանու­թյունների առջեւ կանգնած գլխավոր մարտահրավերը արդյունաբերության զար­գացման խթա­նումն ու բնակչության կենսամակարդակի որակական փո­փո­խության ապա­հովումն է, ինչին նախատեսվում է հասնել հետեւյալ սկզբուն­քային միջոցա­ռումների իրականացման շնորհիվ.

Կառավարման բարելավում, օրինականության հաստատում, բարե­փո­խումների նոր փաթեթի ընդունում, ստվերայնության կրճատում կամ, ավե­լի ճիշտ, պետական ռեկետի վերացում.

Շուկայական տնտեսության երեք հիմնական սկզբունքների հետեւո­ղական գործադրում, ինչը ենթադրում է՝ տնտեսավարող սուբյեկտներին հա­վասար հնարավորությունների ընձեռում, ազատ մրցակցության ապահովում եւ սեփականության անձեռնմխելիության երաշխավորում.

Օրինականության եւ լիակատար թափանցիկության ապահովում սե­փականաշնորհման, պետական գույքի եւ հողի վաճառքի, աճուրդների եւ տենդերների կազմակերպման, լիցենզիաների տրամադրման եւ շինարա­րա­կան աշխատանքների թույլտվության հարցերում.

Հարկային օրենսդրության կատարելագործում, հարկման բազայի ընդ­լայ­նում, հարկային բեռի հավասարաչափ բաշխում, խոշոր ձեռներեցների անխտիր ընդգրկում հարկման դաշտ, «Պարզեցված հարկի օրենքի» գործա­դրման շարունակում, պետության կողմից հարկային կանխավճարների եւ ավե­լացված արժեքի հարկի վերադարձման երաշխավորում.

Հակամենաշնորհային քաղաքականության հետեւողական իրագոր­ծում, ներմուծվող ապրանքների շուկայում քվոտաների բաշխման եւ մենա­շնոր­հային դիրքի առաջացման անթույլատրելիություն, ոչ բարեխիղճ մրցակ­ցության կամ մենաշնորհային գործելակերպի պարագայում օրենքով նախա­տեսված խիստ պատժամիջոցների կիրառում.

Արտադրության խթանմանն ուղղված անհրաժեշտ միջոցառումների իրականացում, նկատի ունենալով, մասնավորապես, հիմնական կապի­տա­լում ներդրվող միջոցների հաշվառումը արտադրանքի ինքնարժեքի կազմում եւ դրանց ազատումը շահութահարկից, ինչպես նաեւ շահութահարկից կան­խավճարներ մուծելու պրակտիկայի դադարեցումը եւ ներքին արտադրողի շահերի հավասարեցումը ներմուծողի նկատմամբ.

Պետական աջակցության ցուցաբերում բարձր տեխնոլոգիաների վրա հիմնված արդյունաբերության, մասնավորապես, ինֆորմացիոն եւ տելեկո­մու­նիկացիոն բնագավառներում գործող արտադրությունների եւ մատուցվող ծառայությունների զարգացման, ինչպես նաեւ՝ արագագործ եւ մատչելի ին­տերնետային ցանցի համատարած ներդրման գործում.

Գյուղացիական տնտեսությունների սպասարկման ենթակառուց­վածք­ների ստեղծում, որոնց տակ ենթադրվում են՝ այդ տնտեսությունների ֆի­նանսավորման կազմակերպման, ագրոսպասարկման, ոռոգման, գյուղ­մթերք­ների վերամշակման եւ իրացման համակարգերը. որպես գյուղատնտե­սու­թյան զարգացմանն ուղղված լրացուցիչ միջոցներ նախատեսվում են՝ պե­տու­թյան մասնակ­ցու­թյամբ գյուղացիական տնտեսությունների բերքի պարտա­դիր ապահովա­գրու­մը, ներմուծվող սերմնացուի վրա ավելացված արժեքի հարկի տարածման վերացումը եւ դիզելային վառելիքի ազատումը ակցի­զա­յին հարկից, ինչպես նաեւ՝ պետության կողմից պարբերական աջակցության ցուցաբերումը սերմ­նացուի, պարարտանյութերի, տոհմային հոտի ձեռք­բեր­ման գործում.

Բանկային գործունեությանը վերաբերող օրենսդրության վերանայում, մասնավորապես, Կենտրոնական բանկի խորհրդի իրավասությունների ընդ­լայ­նում՝ ի հաշիվ նրա նախագահին վերապահված անհամաչափ լիազորու­թյունների, նոր բանկերի գրանցման պահանջների մեղմացում, ներդրումային հիմնադրամների, ֆոնդային բորսայի, վարկային կազմակերպությունների գոր­ծունեության խթանում։

There are quite a few ideas that I like;
- the elimination of certain taxes,
- eliminating the practice of taxing income before the revenues occur (this is an extremely stupid practice that the current administration uses),
- eliminating the state racket of collecting bribes and encouraging tax evasion (basically, the money flows into the pockets of the beaurocrats instead of the state coffers which necesitates taxation before revenue),
- expanding the duties and responsibilities of the CB board of directors to balance the CB chairman's clout,
- providing harvest insurance mechanisms to the farmers (another excellent idea),
- eliminating capital investment taxation (taxing investments is really stupid if you want to encourage investments),
- enforce anti-trust laws to reduce monopolization of economic spheres that are not natural monopolies. This should encourage competition, add consumer surplus (consumers will get more value for their money), raise productivity and competitiveness in the global markets.

There are quite a few other good ideas, and some of my major concerns are addressed in the law and order section of the program. You can read it all at the official website for "Levon for president" campaign. The unofficial site also has a PDF version of it.

Photo for January 4, 2008.

XT_20071221_0055, originally uploaded by nazarian.

Although it had snowed a few days earlier, warmer air had arrived from the Caribbean. The ensuing fog was too tempting for me to pass.

Electoral fraud - why not to do it.

In an extreme case of post electoral unrest triggered by rigged election results is in Kenya:

At least 180,000 people have been displaced by unrest as the humanitarian crisis grows after last week's disputed election in Kenya, say UN officials.

I cannot think of a case where elections rigged by the incumbents resulted in anything positive. Even if it doesn't escalate to the level of violence we see in Kenya today, there is at least apathy and distrust among the citizens.

There are cases where the incumbent force loses due to electoral fraud such as the 2000 elections in the US when the elections were subject to seemingly legalized rigging (scores of African Americans were not allowed to vote in Florida and then to add insult to the injury, the Supreme Court gave the presidency to G. W. Bush).