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TO NEW PARLIAMENT WITH OLD OLIGARCHS: DESPITE PRESIDENT'S ASSURANCES, BUSINESSPEOPLE STILL ON ELECTION LISTS
By Naira Hayrumyan
ArmeniaNow
26.03.12 | 13:18
Photo: www.parliament.am
Despite the fact that representatives of the ruling Republican Party of
Armenia said earlier that in the future the number of businessmen as
parliament deputies will be kept to a minimum, almost all of today's
tycoons represented in the legislature are either on the proportional
lists of parties or running for reelection in one of 41 single-seat
constituencies.
Experts consider several reasons why President Serzh Sargsyan,
who appears to be strongly determined to carry out reforms, has,
nevertheless, opted for including oligarchs in the lists.
The government-linked businessmen, such as tycoon Samvel Alexanyan, who
is a monopolist in the import of flour, sugar and some other staples
and owns a chain of supermarkets, Yerevan City, say formally they are
not businessmen. The law prohibits people from being lawmakers only
if they are directly engaged in business. Alexanyan, for example,
says that his wife runs the business and that even she paid for the
plastic surgery on his nose.
There is, indeed, this legislative gap, and it is very difficult to
expose the lawmaker as a businessperson.
Besides, experts began to doubt that decisions within the Republican
Party are taken by President Sargsyan single-handedly. They talk
about the pressure and even threats from some oligarchs to move to
another camp unless Sargsyan included them in the lists.
It is remarkable that the struggle of "reformers" (believed to be
headed by Sargsyan's son-in-law, spin doctor Mikael Minasyan) and
"conservatives", including party functionaries and controversial
oligarchs, has been on within the Republican Party for a long time now.
The influence of the reformers at first seemed to be growing,
but closer to the elections the government-linked businessmen seem
to have won. This is evidenced by the fact that Sargsyan withdrew
his son-in-law Minasyan from his administration and sent him to the
party's campaign headquarters as an aide to the former Speaker, Hovik
Abrahamyan, who, by the way, also has extensive business interests.
But the chief reason that media mention is preparations for next
February's presidential elections. A tough competition between the
three likely candidates - the three "Presidents" of Armenia can already
be clearly outlined. In accordance with this, Sargsyan has the task
of neutralizing the strongest possible contenders - first president
and current opposition leader Levon Ter-Petrosyan and second president
Robert Kocharyan, who is said to be considering a political comeback.
While the matters with the first president can be solved by "not
obstructing" the opposition Armenian National Congress led by him
from entering the parliament, then things with the second president
are much more complicated. Kocharyan does not yet declare about his
plans for the future, but Gagik Tsarukyan, the leader of the Prosperous
Armenia Party believed to be loyal to Kocharyan, once emphasized the
ex-president's merits, noting that Kocharyan has every right to run
for president.
In this regard, Sargsyan faces the task of keeping in his team
those who could potentially join the team of Kocharyan, including
the oligarchs, who still maintain their clout. Presumably because
of this Sargsyan preferred to go back on his promise not to include
businessmen in election lists in order not to put them off a year
before the presidential race.
The main criterion for the inclusion in the proportional list of the
ruling Republican Party is the assistance to the party's leader,
President Sargsyan, said Vice-Speaker of the Armenian National
Assembly, spokesman for the Republican Party Eduard Sharmazanov.
Speaking about the competition with the Prosperous Armenia Party,
he said: "No one from the Prosperous Armenia Party has yet declared
that they would not support the candidacy of Serzh Sargsyan during
the 2013 presidential election."
But if Sargsyan has, indeed, been able to neutralize the potential
obstacles to his second term, the society is still to get an answer
to one question - how sincere were the intentions of the Sargsyan
team to carry out reforms?
From: A. Papazian
By Naira Hayrumyan
ArmeniaNow
26.03.12 | 13:18
Photo: www.parliament.am
Despite the fact that representatives of the ruling Republican Party of
Armenia said earlier that in the future the number of businessmen as
parliament deputies will be kept to a minimum, almost all of today's
tycoons represented in the legislature are either on the proportional
lists of parties or running for reelection in one of 41 single-seat
constituencies.
Experts consider several reasons why President Serzh Sargsyan,
who appears to be strongly determined to carry out reforms, has,
nevertheless, opted for including oligarchs in the lists.
The government-linked businessmen, such as tycoon Samvel Alexanyan, who
is a monopolist in the import of flour, sugar and some other staples
and owns a chain of supermarkets, Yerevan City, say formally they are
not businessmen. The law prohibits people from being lawmakers only
if they are directly engaged in business. Alexanyan, for example,
says that his wife runs the business and that even she paid for the
plastic surgery on his nose.
There is, indeed, this legislative gap, and it is very difficult to
expose the lawmaker as a businessperson.
Besides, experts began to doubt that decisions within the Republican
Party are taken by President Sargsyan single-handedly. They talk
about the pressure and even threats from some oligarchs to move to
another camp unless Sargsyan included them in the lists.
It is remarkable that the struggle of "reformers" (believed to be
headed by Sargsyan's son-in-law, spin doctor Mikael Minasyan) and
"conservatives", including party functionaries and controversial
oligarchs, has been on within the Republican Party for a long time now.
The influence of the reformers at first seemed to be growing,
but closer to the elections the government-linked businessmen seem
to have won. This is evidenced by the fact that Sargsyan withdrew
his son-in-law Minasyan from his administration and sent him to the
party's campaign headquarters as an aide to the former Speaker, Hovik
Abrahamyan, who, by the way, also has extensive business interests.
But the chief reason that media mention is preparations for next
February's presidential elections. A tough competition between the
three likely candidates - the three "Presidents" of Armenia can already
be clearly outlined. In accordance with this, Sargsyan has the task
of neutralizing the strongest possible contenders - first president
and current opposition leader Levon Ter-Petrosyan and second president
Robert Kocharyan, who is said to be considering a political comeback.
While the matters with the first president can be solved by "not
obstructing" the opposition Armenian National Congress led by him
from entering the parliament, then things with the second president
are much more complicated. Kocharyan does not yet declare about his
plans for the future, but Gagik Tsarukyan, the leader of the Prosperous
Armenia Party believed to be loyal to Kocharyan, once emphasized the
ex-president's merits, noting that Kocharyan has every right to run
for president.
In this regard, Sargsyan faces the task of keeping in his team
those who could potentially join the team of Kocharyan, including
the oligarchs, who still maintain their clout. Presumably because
of this Sargsyan preferred to go back on his promise not to include
businessmen in election lists in order not to put them off a year
before the presidential race.
The main criterion for the inclusion in the proportional list of the
ruling Republican Party is the assistance to the party's leader,
President Sargsyan, said Vice-Speaker of the Armenian National
Assembly, spokesman for the Republican Party Eduard Sharmazanov.
Speaking about the competition with the Prosperous Armenia Party,
he said: "No one from the Prosperous Armenia Party has yet declared
that they would not support the candidacy of Serzh Sargsyan during
the 2013 presidential election."
But if Sargsyan has, indeed, been able to neutralize the potential
obstacles to his second term, the society is still to get an answer
to one question - how sincere were the intentions of the Sargsyan
team to carry out reforms?
From: A. Papazian