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YOUTH PARTY CONVENES CONFERENCE WITHOUT INVITING OPPOSITION REPS
Arman Gharibyan
http://hetq.am/en/politics/hamagoxov/
2010/07/27
On July 28, an organization calling itself the "Youth Party" convened a
seminar entitled "Strategy 2020â~@³ aimed at studying such issues as a
"young Armenian government" and "reserves of young Armenian cadres".
Surprisingly, no young people from the opposition appeared to be in
attendance or listed in the official list of invited guests. All we
saw were representatives of the ruling Armenian Republican Party,
president of the youth wing of the Prosperous Armenian Party (a
member of the ruling coalition, the minister and deputy minister of
the Sport and Youth Ministry, the RoA Police Chief, the Ambassador
of the Russian Federation, and an assortment of business leaders and
government functionaries.
We asked Artak Khachatryan, a member of the Youth Party's
administration, why representatives of the opposition weren't invited.
"We haven't stressed the presence of reps from the ruling circles.
There are active young people and business leaders that do not
necessarily represent the ruling government," he answered.
He added that opposition youth hadn't been invited since the party's
activities are essentially based around social concerns and that the
opposition doesn't recognize the legitimacy of the current government
and takes every opportunity to criticize it.
"The legitimacy issue is outside the scope of the conference. However,
we would not oppose the presence of opposition youth at this
conference," Mr. Khachatryan added
When we asked what the Chief of Police was doing at a youth conference,
Mr. Khachatryan explained, "Today, there is a certain negative
perception of the police with the youth that we want to dispel;
to have the two segments get closer to each other."
From: A. Papazian
Arman Gharibyan
http://hetq.am/en/politics/hamagoxov/
2010/07/27
On July 28, an organization calling itself the "Youth Party" convened a
seminar entitled "Strategy 2020â~@³ aimed at studying such issues as a
"young Armenian government" and "reserves of young Armenian cadres".
Surprisingly, no young people from the opposition appeared to be in
attendance or listed in the official list of invited guests. All we
saw were representatives of the ruling Armenian Republican Party,
president of the youth wing of the Prosperous Armenian Party (a
member of the ruling coalition, the minister and deputy minister of
the Sport and Youth Ministry, the RoA Police Chief, the Ambassador
of the Russian Federation, and an assortment of business leaders and
government functionaries.
We asked Artak Khachatryan, a member of the Youth Party's
administration, why representatives of the opposition weren't invited.
"We haven't stressed the presence of reps from the ruling circles.
There are active young people and business leaders that do not
necessarily represent the ruling government," he answered.
He added that opposition youth hadn't been invited since the party's
activities are essentially based around social concerns and that the
opposition doesn't recognize the legitimacy of the current government
and takes every opportunity to criticize it.
"The legitimacy issue is outside the scope of the conference. However,
we would not oppose the presence of opposition youth at this
conference," Mr. Khachatryan added
When we asked what the Chief of Police was doing at a youth conference,
Mr. Khachatryan explained, "Today, there is a certain negative
perception of the police with the youth that we want to dispel;
to have the two segments get closer to each other."
From: A. Papazian