(Saturday, October 6)
In an interview with “168 Zham” member of the main opposition Armenian National Congress (HAK) Petros Makeyan describes the stance by two of the bloc’s members, Lyudmila Sargsian and Gagik Jahangirian, who voted in the National Assembly in favor of an interstate agreement dealing with the installation of military facilities in the territories of [Russia-led] Collective Security Treaty Organization-member states as “wrong”. Makeyan, who heads the Democratic Homeland party, a member of the HAK alliance, says: “As to why they voted so, you’d better ask them personally. But as a member of the HAK’s Political Council I think that what they did was wrong. First, the document was to be discussed at the Political Council, because we had decided that all legislative initiatives and documents concerning geopolitical issues would first be presented and discussed at the Council. In fact, they bypassed the decision of the Political Council and voted the way they wanted.” Asked whether he is against the agreement, Makeyan says: “We are for Armenia’s state independence. I think those who voted for that piece of legislation voted against independence.”
“Hayots Ashkhar” asks political analyst Aleksandr Iskandarian whether the recent move to strip Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) lawmaker Vartan Oskanian of his parliamentary immunity will clarify the “uncertain situation” that persists in Armenia’s political arena in the run-up to next year’s presidential election. The analyst comments: “The reason for this uncertainty is that the two major players – the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) and the BHK – won’t come to terms. It is clear that there is pressure on the BHK and the case against ex-foreign minister Vartan Oskanian is only part of this pressure. It is also clear that the pressure on the BHK so far has failed to produce an effect. With only a few months remaining before the election, time has come for political parties to show more clarity in their positions, but the main political forces have not defined their stances yet. It is clear what the HHK is after – it is seeking to break the resistance of the BHK and enlist its support for its candidate in the presidential election. Unless the HHK manages to do so, the tensions in its relations with the BHK will continue until the presidential election, with all the ensuing consequences.”
“Aravot” asks head of the HHK parliamentary faction Galust Sahakian whether the periodical phone calls that he was making while the vote on lifting Oskanian’s immunity was in progress in the National Assembly were an instance of acting like a ‘whip’ to make sure members of the faction take part in the vote. “Nobody was made to come to vote,” answers Sahakian. “We know very well who was missing, who was on a business trip and who was sick that day... Those who were [in the chamber] from the beginning eventually took part in the ballot. In any case, I don’t see anything wrong in it. If we see a threat, it is only natural that we should come together. But that wasn’t the case.”
“Hraparak” also observes a pattern in which the HHK that enjoys a comfortable majority in the legislature narrowly passes laws in the absence of many of its members especially when members of the BHK, the second largest faction, and others decide to opt out of votes in an attempt to affect the quorum. HHK lawmaker Mkrtich Minasian explains to the newspaper: “You know, here in Armenia we are simply used to having a political majority that is several times bigger than the minority. This is not the case in the rest of the world. In many parliaments of the world one faction holds a majority over the other with only three or five votes and has to work according to the principle of consolidation. So, it is only normal that we are going to work in a more organized manner.”
In an editorial “Zhamanak” sees the statement by former president Robert Kocharian in which he called the whole affair involving Oskanian “disappointing” as a sign of his losing political clout. The paper concludes that the ex-leader is primarily disappointed with the HHK. “Kocharian has actually lost any support in the HHK, which was demonstrated by his failure to make any problems for [incumbent president] Serzh Sarkisian during the vote in parliament [on Oskanian’s parliamentary immunity] by means of influencing his so-called ‘loyalists’ among the HHK lawmakers. Kocharian expressed his disappointment because the absolute parliamentary majority had turned out to be Sarkisian’s, indeed.”
(Aghasi Yenokian)
In an interview with “168 Zham” member of the main opposition Armenian National Congress (HAK) Petros Makeyan describes the stance by two of the bloc’s members, Lyudmila Sargsian and Gagik Jahangirian, who voted in the National Assembly in favor of an interstate agreement dealing with the installation of military facilities in the territories of [Russia-led] Collective Security Treaty Organization-member states as “wrong”. Makeyan, who heads the Democratic Homeland party, a member of the HAK alliance, says: “As to why they voted so, you’d better ask them personally. But as a member of the HAK’s Political Council I think that what they did was wrong. First, the document was to be discussed at the Political Council, because we had decided that all legislative initiatives and documents concerning geopolitical issues would first be presented and discussed at the Council. In fact, they bypassed the decision of the Political Council and voted the way they wanted.” Asked whether he is against the agreement, Makeyan says: “We are for Armenia’s state independence. I think those who voted for that piece of legislation voted against independence.”
“Hayots Ashkhar” asks political analyst Aleksandr Iskandarian whether the recent move to strip Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) lawmaker Vartan Oskanian of his parliamentary immunity will clarify the “uncertain situation” that persists in Armenia’s political arena in the run-up to next year’s presidential election. The analyst comments: “The reason for this uncertainty is that the two major players – the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) and the BHK – won’t come to terms. It is clear that there is pressure on the BHK and the case against ex-foreign minister Vartan Oskanian is only part of this pressure. It is also clear that the pressure on the BHK so far has failed to produce an effect. With only a few months remaining before the election, time has come for political parties to show more clarity in their positions, but the main political forces have not defined their stances yet. It is clear what the HHK is after – it is seeking to break the resistance of the BHK and enlist its support for its candidate in the presidential election. Unless the HHK manages to do so, the tensions in its relations with the BHK will continue until the presidential election, with all the ensuing consequences.”
“Aravot” asks head of the HHK parliamentary faction Galust Sahakian whether the periodical phone calls that he was making while the vote on lifting Oskanian’s immunity was in progress in the National Assembly were an instance of acting like a ‘whip’ to make sure members of the faction take part in the vote. “Nobody was made to come to vote,” answers Sahakian. “We know very well who was missing, who was on a business trip and who was sick that day... Those who were [in the chamber] from the beginning eventually took part in the ballot. In any case, I don’t see anything wrong in it. If we see a threat, it is only natural that we should come together. But that wasn’t the case.”
“Hraparak” also observes a pattern in which the HHK that enjoys a comfortable majority in the legislature narrowly passes laws in the absence of many of its members especially when members of the BHK, the second largest faction, and others decide to opt out of votes in an attempt to affect the quorum. HHK lawmaker Mkrtich Minasian explains to the newspaper: “You know, here in Armenia we are simply used to having a political majority that is several times bigger than the minority. This is not the case in the rest of the world. In many parliaments of the world one faction holds a majority over the other with only three or five votes and has to work according to the principle of consolidation. So, it is only normal that we are going to work in a more organized manner.”
In an editorial “Zhamanak” sees the statement by former president Robert Kocharian in which he called the whole affair involving Oskanian “disappointing” as a sign of his losing political clout. The paper concludes that the ex-leader is primarily disappointed with the HHK. “Kocharian has actually lost any support in the HHK, which was demonstrated by his failure to make any problems for [incumbent president] Serzh Sarkisian during the vote in parliament [on Oskanian’s parliamentary immunity] by means of influencing his so-called ‘loyalists’ among the HHK lawmakers. Kocharian expressed his disappointment because the absolute parliamentary majority had turned out to be Sarkisian’s, indeed.”
(Aghasi Yenokian)