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War Of Words: Former Allies In Verbal Duel Over "Corruption" Comment

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  • War Of Words: Former Allies In Verbal Duel Over "Corruption" Comment

    WAR OF WORDS: FORMER ALLIES IN VERBAL DUEL OVER "CORRUPTION" COMMENTS
    By NAIRA HAYRUMYAN

    ArmeniaNow
    07.12.12 | 13:27

    Eduard Sharmazanov, Tigran Urikhanyan

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    The spokespersons of two former coalition partners, Republican Party
    of Armenia (RPA) and Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) measured their
    tongues in a verbal duel Thursday in what may turn into an open
    inter-party confrontation ahead of next year's presidential election.

    The trigger was the comments made by PAP leader Gagik Tsarukyan on
    a recent visit to Brussels in which he in fact accused the current
    leadership of Armenia of being corrupt.

    "It is impossible to wage a struggle against corruption in a country
    where this struggle is led by corrupt individuals," said Tsarukyan,
    according to the party's press office, after a meeting with a senior
    European Parliament official on Wednesday.

    The remarks drew some angry responses from the ruling Armenian party,
    RPA. Head of the RPA's parliamentary faction Galust Sahakyan said he
    could not believe Tsarukyan may have said that. And RPA spokesman,
    Deputy Speaker of Parliament Eduard Sharmazanov rejected the comments
    as "a theatrical performance" meant for the domestic audience. He
    also attacked PAP, claiming that some European deputies view this
    Armenian party as an "artificial force" and that they also deem the
    PAP leader has "very scant knowledge of international politics and
    current political affairs in general."

    PAP press secretary Tigran Urikhanyan described Sharmazanov's comments
    as "impolite".

    "Anyone who dares throw the gauntlet to PAP must know that PAP presents
    the approaches and interests not only of one person, one team or
    event one party followers, but 99.99 percent of the population of
    Armenia. And fighting against PAP means fighting against millions of
    people," the PAP spokesman stressed.

    Remarkably, earlier this week PAP also voted "against" next year's
    state budget, which was passed due to the RPA majority. Urikhanyan said
    the party did not expect any qualitative changes based on this budget.

    Tsarukyan stepped up his criticism of the government's economic
    policies in recent months. In particular, PAP directed its main
    criticism against Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, considering that
    he should resign. And before the passage of this year's budget PAP
    even presented its Top 10 "most ridiculous" budgetary items suggesting
    that removing them from the expenditure pattern will save millions of
    dollars that could be used for tackling more pressing social problems.

    Experts say it is the appointed to the prime minister post that
    has long been a subject of bargaining between PAP and RPA. They do
    not rule out that Tsarukyan may support President Serzh Sargsyan's
    reelection bid in exchange for the offer of the prime minister's
    office to his party. So far Sargsyan has apparently been reluctant
    to agree to such terms.

    Meanwhile, the stage of nominations in the February 2013 presidential
    election is getting closer and Tsarukyan's decision is awaited not
    only by his party, but also other political forces, including in the
    opposition camp. The Brussels statement by Tsarukyan was regarded by
    many as a bid to contest the election on a platform focusing on an
    anti-corruption drive. Yet, there is also a sizable body of opinion
    that tycoon Tsarukyan is unlikely to be successful in his new image
    of a guy fighting corruption since he himself has enjoyed preferential
    treatment from the government in recent years.


    From: Baghdasarian
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