From 11 to 20 May, 2019, the “Media Advocate” initiative followed online media reports on the wife of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, Anna Hakobyan’s personality and activities.
34 leading Armenian news agencies have been monitored.
In the specified period, 314 articles were declared, 68 of which were negative, 4 were positive and 242 were neutral.
One may come across a number of negative articles on the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, Mrs. Anna Hakobyan, during this the ten-day period. First, Anna Hakobyan has been criticized for her foundation. According to media reports, the boxes of “City of Smilies” charitable foundation appeared in “Yerevan Cities”. The press mentions that Samvel Aleksanyan has solved his problems with the authorities and the presence of these boxes can obstruct the supervisory authorities, as a result of which the auditing activities in stores may not be undertaken.
In addition, according to media reports, the boxes appeared in the NA canteen and it is noted that besides “having access to” oligarchs’ pockets, the prime minister’s wife collects money from the canteen’s visitors.
Although the authorities have adopted the “anti-nepotism” policy, there are numerous publications in the press that Anna Hakobyan appoints her sponsors to offices. If publications correspond to reality, one can conclude that the principles adopted by the authorities are not really working. In addition, the public may demand an explanation from the authorities one day.
Anna Hakobyan has also been criticized because of the publications of “Haykakan Zhamanak” (The Armenian Times). In one of the articles published in the newspaper, Nikol Pashinyan was referred to as Anna Hakobyan’s spouse when referring to the events that took place within the framework of her visit to China, while the prime minister was the one who had a formal meeting and it should have been written on the contrary.
From the aforementioned, one may conclude that Anna Hakobyan, according to press releases, is involved in the activities of the entire Armenian public sector having her own influence. At least, the media finds that issues in Armenia may be solved due to Anna Hakobyan.
