Mayor of Plessis-Robinson city, Haut du Senne county council deputy president Phillipe Pemezek: Local government is not a state within another state

Lilit SEYRANYAN | May 30, 2009

- How are local government systems formed in France? Is the structure of the French local government system consistent with that of the other European countries?   - The local government bodies are different administrative institutions than the local government state administration, which shall be responsible for the interest of a certain territory population. The local government has the right to make decisions, which are discussed in the council of elected representatives. The local governments consist of an assembly elected by the general vote and an executive body in it, which is elected by the assembly (mayor and deputy mayors, presidents of the general and county councils). - How much is the budget of your community and how much do the separate clauses have? - The recent budget of Haut du Senne is the following: income of Activities - 609 million Euro direct tax, rights of registration - 281 million, general subsidy - 267 million, inner tax on oil products – 90 million, tax on insurance contracts...

To tell the truth, or what the people want to hear?

Rafael TEYMURAZYAN | April 22, 2007

The Armenian National Assembly election campaign kicked off nearly two weeks ago. It is gradually being contoured how each political party is trying to present itself in front of the public. Recently the theme of the subsequent debate at the “Pressing” club attached to the “168 Hours” edition was the campaign process. According to the head speaker of the debate and vice editor of “168 Hours” Armen Baghdasaryan, it seems as though the political processes have moved to the campaigning field. “In other words, all the political debates have moved to the television (and to public squares). The campaign has been going on for a week. I put myself in the shoes of an average voter and, unfortunately, I am not able to decide whom to vote for because the campaign is divided into a couple of parts. You have one party that is clearly stating some things; then you have another party that is preparing some image clips. Someone says that their party is going to create a city for criminals,...

Why do large businessmen enter politics?

April 15, 2007

Why do large businessmen of Armenia enter the political field and is that an acceptable phenomenon? Each of the participants of the subsequent “Pressing” club debate had his own clear position on that. Vice-editor in chief of “168 Hours” newspaper Armen Baghdasaryan is of the opinion that in Armenia, business does not have an impact on politics; rather it directly enters the political field. In other words, large businessmen themselves create political parties and enter parliament. Baghdasaryan drew his attention to another fact. “Whereas classically, business finances political parties, it does not exist in Armenia. Businessmen fear supporting oppositional political parties. Even the store manager is afraid of posting a campaign poster of the oppositional party.” According to president of the Armenian National Movement administration Ararat Zurabyan, nobody in Armenia, particularly businessmen, is secure. “So, the businessman tries to enter parliament in order...

Political environment overview before the upcoming elections

Rafael TEYMURAZYAN | April 6, 2007

The current discussion held by the “Pressing” club adjacent to “168 Hours” newspaper is dedicated to the topic of the upcoming elections and the political environment before the elections. The discussion was conducted by Armen Baghdasaryan, deputy to the editor-in-chief, who asked several important questions, such as why the opposition and the governmental parties did not unite before the elections. “The problem is not whose fault it was, but why they failed to unite, what the purpose was and whether by doing so they don’t allow any opportunities for the voter to make a conscious choice… Voters are confused. For instance, many of my friends often ask me for advice about whom to vote for; some of them say that they advocate the opposition and some of them – the government, but they don’t know which parties to elect”, explained Armen Baghdasaryan. Samvel Nikoyan, member of the ARP faction, started the discussion and said that the difference between...

Is it an election of persons or ideas?

March 25, 2007

Is there going to be a struggle of individuals or ideas during the upcoming parliamentary elections? This was the question during the subsequent debate at the “Pressing” club. According to vice-editor of “168 Hours” newspaper Armen Baghdasaryan, there is a theoretical opinion that people vote for people in the majority electoral system and ideas in the proportional electoral system. “But it seems as though that that is going beyond the limits in Armenia; in other words, they choose more and more people in both the proportional and majority electoral systems. That is the reason why the names of the first three candidates in the proportional electoral system are written on the ballots,” said A. Baghdasaryan. Middle Eastern studies specialist David Hovhannisyan believes that in the sense of ideas, in Armenia “the nationalist discourse is clear; the only thing missing are the shades which are more delicate than the thick”. According to Hovhannisyan, our course towards...