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UNITED BY BOYCOTT: PAP, ANC IN MORE PRESSED RANKS AFTER PARLIAMENT MAJORITY BLOCKS DEBATE ON CHANGES IN ELECTION LAWS
By SIRANUYSH GEVORGYAN
ArmeniaNow
22.11.12 | 12:43
Words such as "consolidation" and "single candidate" appeared to sound
more convincing when uttered by initiators of the Wednesday special
meeting of parliament that was boycotted and effectively thwarted by
the ruling majority.
The opposition Armenian National Congress had initiated the meeting
to debate amendments to some election laws that it said would exclude
fraud in next year's presidential election. The Dashnaktsutyun and
Heritage factions as well as the faction of the Prosperous Armenia
Party, which has increasingly positioned itself as an "alternative"
to the current government seconded the motion that eventually secured
signatures from more than a third of lawmakers - enough to convene
a special meeting under the Armenian Constitution.
The (ruling) Republican Party of Armenia and its junior coalition
partner, Orinats Yerkir, who together hold more than half of the seats
in the National Assembly, did not show up in the chamber, which led to
the absence of quorum and consequently the meeting could not be held.
Only 44 members were registered at the meeting, while the quorum in
the 131-seat body requires the presence of at least 66 members.
After the failed meeting ANC and PAP held a joint picket in front of
the National Assembly building, "naming and shaming" the lawmakers
who had not attended the session. From PAP the picket was attended
by the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, MP Vartan Oskanian and
parliamentary faction secretary Naira Zohrabyan.
Oskanian, who wrote on his Facebook account the day before that most
PAP members were inclined to see Gagik Tsarukyan, the leader of the
party, as a presidential candidate in the February election, addressed
the crowd of opposition supporters outside the parliament building,
saying that they were standing "in front of a watershed".
"Non-establishment political forces are forming common approaches
towards our future plans. And I'd like to hope that, indeed, during
the next week we will be able to form a common political agenda. We
need to put aside our narrow party and personal interests, consolidate
and with a united agenda - and, why not, with a single candidate -
contest the presidential election," he said.
Participants in the picket mostly consisting of ANC supporters received
Oskanian's words by chanting: "Levon, Levon!", implying that they
would like to see ANC leader and ex-president Levon Ter-Petrosyan
running for president again.
ANC parliamentary leader Levon Zurabyan, however, again did not give
a definite answer whether the ANC would field its own candidate or
would back a single candidate representing another force.
"Consultations are in progress, and I think there is no point in
speaking about any positions in advance," Zurabyan told media.
Earlier, the senior ANC member did not rule out the possibility of
ANC and PAP contesting the February vote with a single presidential
candidate.
Interestingly, PAP leader Tsarukyan, who until recently would duck
all questions regarding his decision on the format of contesting the
election or even whether he had such a decision or not, in an interview
with the pro-PAP website Zham.am published on Wednesday said that he
already had made his decision, but was not going to make it public
yet as the electoral law allowed him to do it later.
(Under Armenian legislation, nominations of candidates in presidential
elections are to start 55 days prior to and end 45 days before Election
Day, i.e. from late December 2012 to early January 2013.)
"Naturally, such key decisions are not made at the last moment.
Furthermore, I have already made my own decision. But since the
electoral law still allows me not to publicize it, I'm going to use
this opportunity," said Tsarukyan.
"On the other hand, this is also an optimal period of time to listen
to the views of and the proposals of friends within the party and
the partner parties in the political field," he added.
While opposition forces are still in consultations around possible
consolidation ahead of the election, the ruling party appears to
treat such a possibility with a great deal of skepticism. Leading
members of RPA have said that the opposition won't manage to unite
ahead of the election and have described the latest developments in
the opposition camp as "political shows".
By SIRANUYSH GEVORGYAN
ArmeniaNow
22.11.12 | 12:43
Words such as "consolidation" and "single candidate" appeared to sound
more convincing when uttered by initiators of the Wednesday special
meeting of parliament that was boycotted and effectively thwarted by
the ruling majority.
The opposition Armenian National Congress had initiated the meeting
to debate amendments to some election laws that it said would exclude
fraud in next year's presidential election. The Dashnaktsutyun and
Heritage factions as well as the faction of the Prosperous Armenia
Party, which has increasingly positioned itself as an "alternative"
to the current government seconded the motion that eventually secured
signatures from more than a third of lawmakers - enough to convene
a special meeting under the Armenian Constitution.
The (ruling) Republican Party of Armenia and its junior coalition
partner, Orinats Yerkir, who together hold more than half of the seats
in the National Assembly, did not show up in the chamber, which led to
the absence of quorum and consequently the meeting could not be held.
Only 44 members were registered at the meeting, while the quorum in
the 131-seat body requires the presence of at least 66 members.
After the failed meeting ANC and PAP held a joint picket in front of
the National Assembly building, "naming and shaming" the lawmakers
who had not attended the session. From PAP the picket was attended
by the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, MP Vartan Oskanian and
parliamentary faction secretary Naira Zohrabyan.
Oskanian, who wrote on his Facebook account the day before that most
PAP members were inclined to see Gagik Tsarukyan, the leader of the
party, as a presidential candidate in the February election, addressed
the crowd of opposition supporters outside the parliament building,
saying that they were standing "in front of a watershed".
"Non-establishment political forces are forming common approaches
towards our future plans. And I'd like to hope that, indeed, during
the next week we will be able to form a common political agenda. We
need to put aside our narrow party and personal interests, consolidate
and with a united agenda - and, why not, with a single candidate -
contest the presidential election," he said.
Participants in the picket mostly consisting of ANC supporters received
Oskanian's words by chanting: "Levon, Levon!", implying that they
would like to see ANC leader and ex-president Levon Ter-Petrosyan
running for president again.
ANC parliamentary leader Levon Zurabyan, however, again did not give
a definite answer whether the ANC would field its own candidate or
would back a single candidate representing another force.
"Consultations are in progress, and I think there is no point in
speaking about any positions in advance," Zurabyan told media.
Earlier, the senior ANC member did not rule out the possibility of
ANC and PAP contesting the February vote with a single presidential
candidate.
Interestingly, PAP leader Tsarukyan, who until recently would duck
all questions regarding his decision on the format of contesting the
election or even whether he had such a decision or not, in an interview
with the pro-PAP website Zham.am published on Wednesday said that he
already had made his decision, but was not going to make it public
yet as the electoral law allowed him to do it later.
(Under Armenian legislation, nominations of candidates in presidential
elections are to start 55 days prior to and end 45 days before Election
Day, i.e. from late December 2012 to early January 2013.)
"Naturally, such key decisions are not made at the last moment.
Furthermore, I have already made my own decision. But since the
electoral law still allows me not to publicize it, I'm going to use
this opportunity," said Tsarukyan.
"On the other hand, this is also an optimal period of time to listen
to the views of and the proposals of friends within the party and
the partner parties in the political field," he added.
While opposition forces are still in consultations around possible
consolidation ahead of the election, the ruling party appears to
treat such a possibility with a great deal of skepticism. Leading
members of RPA have said that the opposition won't manage to unite
ahead of the election and have described the latest developments in
the opposition camp as "political shows".