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ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT DECLINES INCLUSION OF NIKOL PASHINYAN'S PRESIDENT IMPEACHMENT BILL IN AGENDA
YEREVAN, February 23./ARKA/. The National Assembly of Armenia decided
not to include opposition MP Nikol Pashinyan's president impeachment
bill in its next session's agenda, Novosti-Armenia correspondent
reports.
Only four members of the parliament voted for putting the bill on
the National Assembly's floor, while 68 voted against that.
None of the Armenian National Congress' MPs took part in the vote.
Levon Zurabyan, head of the Armenian National Congress' faction, said
the faction can't vote for this imperfect and vulnerable version of
the bill.
"I wonder why our colleague [Nikol Pashinyan] submitted the bill
contrary to our arrangements," he said. "I think that approval of
this version of the bill would be a great gift to Serzh Sargsyan."
Pashinyan, on his side, said that not a single proposal has come
from opposition political parties over several months of the bill
discussion in the committee.
On the past Friday, members of the National Assembly's committee on
state and legal affairs, voted down the president impeachment bill
proposed by Nikol Pashinyan, opposition MP.
Pashinyan accuses Serzh Sargsyan of committing treason against the
state, abusing powers eight times and exceeding authority one time.
He considers the signing by Sargsyan the Armenian-Turkish protocols
in Zurich as treason.
Turkey and Armenia have had no diplomatic ties since Armenia became
independent from the Soviet Union in 1991.
Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in a show of support
for its ally, Azerbaijan, which had a dispute with Armenia over
Nagorno-Karabakh, the ethnic Armenian enclave of Azerbaijan.
There are several sensitive issues complicating the establishment of
normal relations between the two countries, particularly Ankara's
blatant support of Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
resolution process and Turkey's refusal to acknowledge the mass
killings of Armenians the Ottoman Empire as genocide.
The thaw in relations between the two countries began in 2008 at the
Armenian president's initiative. In 2009 October 10 Armenia and Turkey
signed "Protocol on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations" and
"Protocol on the Development of Bilateral Relations" in Zurich which
were to be ratified by the parliaments of both countries.
However, on 22 April 2010, the President of Armenia signed a decree
suspending the ratification of the protocols, stating that Turkey
was not ready to continue the process.
One week ago, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, in his letter to
National Assembly Speaker Galust Sahakyan, informed the latter about
his decision to withdraw Armenian-Turkish relationship normalization
protocols from the parliament.
Pashinyan said that the president abused his power when in June 2009
ordered dismissal of the group set up for collecting facts of the
bloody events of March 1 and 2, 2008.
After the 2008 presidential election, Armenian opposition headed by
the first president Levon Ter-Petrosyan, who lost the then race for
presidency, staged protests saying the election had been fraudulent
and the results had been rigged.
The rallies ended in clashes between protesters and law enforcement
agencies. As a result, ten were killed and 200 injured. Many were
arrested.
Pashinyan also accused Sargsyan of doing absolutely nothing for
confirming the information he himself voiced on February 12 about
billion-dram tax evasion by the Prosperous Armenia party leader.
Relations between Gagik Tsarukyan and Serzh Sargsyan worsened after
the latter, speaking at a meeting of the executive board of the ruling
Republican Party of Armenia, lashed out at his former coalition partner
describing him as 'a scourge for the country who lacks intelligence,
skills and education to govern Armenia.' Sargsyan told Prime Minister
Hovik Abrahamyan to instruct corresponding bodies to thoroughly
investigate the veracity of "unverified reports" implicating Tsarukyan
in large-scale tax evasion.
In retaliation to Sargsyan's crackdown, the leader of the Prosperous
Armenia Party said the following day that the current situation in
the country requires solution and 'the only solution is a complete
change of power through extraordinary presidential elections.'
Gagik Tsarukyan said also he was offered the post of president of
the country but only after constitutional reforms that would turn
Armenia into a parliamentary republic.
He claimed that the reform is aimed at enabling Sargsyan to stay in
power after the end of his second and final presidential term in 2018.
Tsarukyan said he declined the offer causing Sargsyan's anger.
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http://arka.am/en/news/politics/armenian_parliament_declines_inclusion_of_nikol_pa shinyan_s_president_impeachment_bill_in_agenda/#sthash.bFjSnoCV.dpuf
From: A. Papazian
YEREVAN, February 23./ARKA/. The National Assembly of Armenia decided
not to include opposition MP Nikol Pashinyan's president impeachment
bill in its next session's agenda, Novosti-Armenia correspondent
reports.
Only four members of the parliament voted for putting the bill on
the National Assembly's floor, while 68 voted against that.
None of the Armenian National Congress' MPs took part in the vote.
Levon Zurabyan, head of the Armenian National Congress' faction, said
the faction can't vote for this imperfect and vulnerable version of
the bill.
"I wonder why our colleague [Nikol Pashinyan] submitted the bill
contrary to our arrangements," he said. "I think that approval of
this version of the bill would be a great gift to Serzh Sargsyan."
Pashinyan, on his side, said that not a single proposal has come
from opposition political parties over several months of the bill
discussion in the committee.
On the past Friday, members of the National Assembly's committee on
state and legal affairs, voted down the president impeachment bill
proposed by Nikol Pashinyan, opposition MP.
Pashinyan accuses Serzh Sargsyan of committing treason against the
state, abusing powers eight times and exceeding authority one time.
He considers the signing by Sargsyan the Armenian-Turkish protocols
in Zurich as treason.
Turkey and Armenia have had no diplomatic ties since Armenia became
independent from the Soviet Union in 1991.
Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in a show of support
for its ally, Azerbaijan, which had a dispute with Armenia over
Nagorno-Karabakh, the ethnic Armenian enclave of Azerbaijan.
There are several sensitive issues complicating the establishment of
normal relations between the two countries, particularly Ankara's
blatant support of Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
resolution process and Turkey's refusal to acknowledge the mass
killings of Armenians the Ottoman Empire as genocide.
The thaw in relations between the two countries began in 2008 at the
Armenian president's initiative. In 2009 October 10 Armenia and Turkey
signed "Protocol on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations" and
"Protocol on the Development of Bilateral Relations" in Zurich which
were to be ratified by the parliaments of both countries.
However, on 22 April 2010, the President of Armenia signed a decree
suspending the ratification of the protocols, stating that Turkey
was not ready to continue the process.
One week ago, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, in his letter to
National Assembly Speaker Galust Sahakyan, informed the latter about
his decision to withdraw Armenian-Turkish relationship normalization
protocols from the parliament.
Pashinyan said that the president abused his power when in June 2009
ordered dismissal of the group set up for collecting facts of the
bloody events of March 1 and 2, 2008.
After the 2008 presidential election, Armenian opposition headed by
the first president Levon Ter-Petrosyan, who lost the then race for
presidency, staged protests saying the election had been fraudulent
and the results had been rigged.
The rallies ended in clashes between protesters and law enforcement
agencies. As a result, ten were killed and 200 injured. Many were
arrested.
Pashinyan also accused Sargsyan of doing absolutely nothing for
confirming the information he himself voiced on February 12 about
billion-dram tax evasion by the Prosperous Armenia party leader.
Relations between Gagik Tsarukyan and Serzh Sargsyan worsened after
the latter, speaking at a meeting of the executive board of the ruling
Republican Party of Armenia, lashed out at his former coalition partner
describing him as 'a scourge for the country who lacks intelligence,
skills and education to govern Armenia.' Sargsyan told Prime Minister
Hovik Abrahamyan to instruct corresponding bodies to thoroughly
investigate the veracity of "unverified reports" implicating Tsarukyan
in large-scale tax evasion.
In retaliation to Sargsyan's crackdown, the leader of the Prosperous
Armenia Party said the following day that the current situation in
the country requires solution and 'the only solution is a complete
change of power through extraordinary presidential elections.'
Gagik Tsarukyan said also he was offered the post of president of
the country but only after constitutional reforms that would turn
Armenia into a parliamentary republic.
He claimed that the reform is aimed at enabling Sargsyan to stay in
power after the end of his second and final presidential term in 2018.
Tsarukyan said he declined the offer causing Sargsyan's anger.
---0-----
http://arka.am/en/news/politics/armenian_parliament_declines_inclusion_of_nikol_pa shinyan_s_president_impeachment_bill_in_agenda/#sthash.bFjSnoCV.dpuf
From: A. Papazian