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Armenia: Authorities And Opposition Are Almost 50/50

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  • Armenia: Authorities And Opposition Are Almost 50/50

    ARMENIA: AUTHORITIES AND OPPOSITION ARE ALMOST 50/50

    Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
    June 24 2014

    24 June 2014 - 10:52am

    Susanna Petrosyan, Yerevan. Exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza

    New tendencies on a slight equalizing of the influence of the
    authorities and the opposition on the situation in the National
    Assembly, which has always been the most important lever of the power,
    are appearing in Armenia. It is confirmed by events over another
    session of the National Assembly which took place last week. The
    parliamentary majority approved a packet of draft bills, including
    an amended draft on funding pensions.

    Representatives of four opposition parties (Dashnaktsutyun, the
    Armenian National Congress, Heritage and Prosperous Armenia) took
    advantage of the situation on June 18th when only 63 MPs of the
    majority party were present at the session, didn't register, and
    the session failed due to the lack of a quorum. The same situation
    occurred on June 19th.

    Only on June 20th did the National Assembly manage to adopt the amended
    draft on funding pensions, with 67 MPs voting for it. On June 21st it
    was adopted in the second reading. The opposition boycotted the vote,
    as in the new draft obligatory payments are not cancelled, they are
    simply transformed into social payments. Moreover, the opposition
    accused MPs of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia of voting on
    behalf of absent MPs. According to the opposition, only 64 MPs from
    the RPA were present at the session, rather than 67.

    Representatives of the opposition quartet say that the procedure of
    adoption of the draft and the absence of sufficient public discussion
    of it give them grounds to address the Constitutional Court. The
    parliamentary majority accused the quartet of blackmail and attempting
    to break up a session of the National Assembly. The reason for the
    problems the authorities are facing is that the number of RPA MPs in
    the parliament is 70, which is almost equal to the minimum number of
    votes which are necessary for decision-making - 66.

    Despite official propaganda from the authorities, the invincibility
    of the RPA and the weakness of the opposition, real processes are
    becoming more and more clear. The grounds for the processes are the
    adoption of several unpopular decisions by the authorities and their
    unprofessionalism in settling urgent socio-economic problems. The
    difficult socio-economic situation influences many RPA members who
    own businesses. It leads to the occurrence of problems inside the
    power structures. Some observers speak about an upcoming crisis inside
    the RPA.

    A new internal political situation is being formed for various
    reasons. The balance between the authorities and the opposition is
    drawing close to 50/50.

    http://vestnikkavkaza.net/analysis/politics/56803.html

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