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PARLIAMENT POLITICS: OPPOSITION DISCUSSES "GOVERNMENT CRISIS" AMID PAP BOYCOTT
POLITICS | 24.02.15 | 10:38
By GAYANE MKRTCHYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter
The first parliament session after the "truce" concluded by two major
Armenian political parties - the ruling Republican Party of Armenian
(RPA) and its top challenger, the Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) -
took place against the background of a PAP boycott and included a vote
on an opposition lawmaker's motion to impeach President Serzh Sargsyan.
MP Nikol Pashinyan's initiative failed to gain any major support in
the chamber, with only four members voting to support it, while 68,
a majority of them representing the majority party, voted against
the resolution.
Before the vote Pashinyan said that the bill did not violate
the presumption of innocence in respect of anyone as it listed
only publicly known facts that "serve as a key to verification of
numerous unverified reports about the dark aspects of Serzh Sargsyan's
activities".
Heritage faction member Zaruhi Postanjyan said, for her part, that
"Sargsyan's resignation is going to happen sooner or later" and that
"it is desirable that it take place not through a painful procedure,
but through a legal procedure."
On Monday, the Parliament also began considering a draft resolution on
"crisis in governance" that was put on the agenda still last October
upon the initiative of one-third of MPs.
Opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC) faction leader Levon
Zurabyan presented the bill in the absence of co-author Naira Zohrabyan
from the PAP and the PAP faction. Deputy Speaker of Parliament Eduard
Sharmazanov, who represents the ruling RPA, used this circumstance
to substantiate his view that while there is a political crisis, this
crisis is inside the opposition rather than within the government. "A
whole faction of a political party that, as you say, signed the
petition for discussing the government crisis issue is not with you
today and does not share your ideas," he said.
Responding to Sharmazanov, Zurabyan said that the latest RPA-PPA
standoff is the best indication of how deep a crisis there is in the
country's political system and in its system of state governance.
Some other opposition lawmakers, meanwhile, also spoke critically
about the Zurabyan-advocated draft resolution.
Pashinyan, for example, accused the opposition of only speaking about
the need for regime change, while doing nothing to make it.
MP Edmond Marukyan, who is not affiliated with any faction in the
National Assembly, meanwhile, called for a "change of generations"
in Armenian politics.
"There is a need for an alternative vision," he said, stressing that
the current opposition is also "part of the political system crisis".
http://armenianow.com/news/politics/60893/armenia_parliament_session_government_opposition
From: Baghdasarian
POLITICS | 24.02.15 | 10:38
By GAYANE MKRTCHYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter
The first parliament session after the "truce" concluded by two major
Armenian political parties - the ruling Republican Party of Armenian
(RPA) and its top challenger, the Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) -
took place against the background of a PAP boycott and included a vote
on an opposition lawmaker's motion to impeach President Serzh Sargsyan.
MP Nikol Pashinyan's initiative failed to gain any major support in
the chamber, with only four members voting to support it, while 68,
a majority of them representing the majority party, voted against
the resolution.
Before the vote Pashinyan said that the bill did not violate
the presumption of innocence in respect of anyone as it listed
only publicly known facts that "serve as a key to verification of
numerous unverified reports about the dark aspects of Serzh Sargsyan's
activities".
Heritage faction member Zaruhi Postanjyan said, for her part, that
"Sargsyan's resignation is going to happen sooner or later" and that
"it is desirable that it take place not through a painful procedure,
but through a legal procedure."
On Monday, the Parliament also began considering a draft resolution on
"crisis in governance" that was put on the agenda still last October
upon the initiative of one-third of MPs.
Opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC) faction leader Levon
Zurabyan presented the bill in the absence of co-author Naira Zohrabyan
from the PAP and the PAP faction. Deputy Speaker of Parliament Eduard
Sharmazanov, who represents the ruling RPA, used this circumstance
to substantiate his view that while there is a political crisis, this
crisis is inside the opposition rather than within the government. "A
whole faction of a political party that, as you say, signed the
petition for discussing the government crisis issue is not with you
today and does not share your ideas," he said.
Responding to Sharmazanov, Zurabyan said that the latest RPA-PPA
standoff is the best indication of how deep a crisis there is in the
country's political system and in its system of state governance.
Some other opposition lawmakers, meanwhile, also spoke critically
about the Zurabyan-advocated draft resolution.
Pashinyan, for example, accused the opposition of only speaking about
the need for regime change, while doing nothing to make it.
MP Edmond Marukyan, who is not affiliated with any faction in the
National Assembly, meanwhile, called for a "change of generations"
in Armenian politics.
"There is a need for an alternative vision," he said, stressing that
the current opposition is also "part of the political system crisis".
http://armenianow.com/news/politics/60893/armenia_parliament_session_government_opposition
From: Baghdasarian