Armenian paper says president plans to dissolve parliament

Azg, Yerevan
1 Jun 04

Text of Tatul Akopyan’s report by the Armenian newspaper Azg on 1
June entitled “Robert Kocharyan will possibly dissolve parliament”

1 June: According to a source close to Armenian President Robert
Kocharyan, the latter intends to dissolve the National Assembly. Under
Article 63 of the Armenian Constitution, the president of the republic
has the power to dissolve the parliament and to call extraordinary
parliamentary elections.

Incidentally, our source said that Kocharyan might dissolve the
parliament in the summer before the autumn session. The president’s
intention to dissolve the parliament can be explained by two main
reasons: first a parliamentary crisis, with the opposition boycotting
the Armenian parliament’s work, and second, falsifications during
the 2003 elections. This is why the West and international judicial
and democratic organizations are putting pressure on Armenia, and
our country’s authority in the eyes of the world community has fallen.

In fact, during his tenure President Kocharyan may try to arrange at
least one election which will be more or less fair according to the
results of which it will be possible to hand over the power to his
“chosen successor”.