In its last edition, the well-known British “Economist” periodical mentioned that reforms in Armenia have ceased after the last recordings of progress in the late 1990s. The periodical writes that Armenia relies on help from abroad and the money transfers made from the Armenian Diaspora, the number of people living in the country is less than the officially announced 2.9 million. “Armenian President Robert Kocharyan is competing against his sponsors at the Kremlin by setting limits on mass media and falsifying elections. Corruption is flourishing. It’s hard to find one political activist in Armenia who doesn’t want to substitute for Kocharyan when he ends his term in 2008. It’s even harder to find someone who will believe that the upcoming elections are going to be fair,” as stated in the “Economist”. “Just like Ilham Aliyev, who inherited the power from his father, Mr. Kocharyan also promises satisfactory reforms in order to assuage America. It’s no surprise that taking into consideration the past, the majority of Armenians is so cynical that it doesn’t expect anything from the authorities.”
