Armenian premier denies tension within ruling coalition

Noyan Tapan news agency
3 Mar 05

YEREVAN

There is no tension within the ruling coalition and there are no
reasons for its collapse, Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Markaryan
said at a meeting with journalists on 2 March. He said that none of
the provisions of the declaration signed by the coalition parties has
been breached so far. Therefore, one should not artificially create
an opinion that allegedly the situation in the coalition is very bad
and that it will collapse soon. The prime minister said it could take
each party only a few hours to find a reason to leave the coalition.

At the same time, no matter what minister’s portfolio the coalition
members hold, they are all responsible for the government’s activity,
Markaryan stressed.

Commenting on criticism of the executive authorities, the prime
minister said that the criticism applied to all the coalition parties
equally. Commenting on the statement of representatives of the
Armenian Revolutionary Federation – Dashnaktsutyun and the Orinats
Yerkir [Law-Governed Country] Party that the government has merged
with the criminal world, the primer minister said: “I would suggest
that both parties submit to me, as the head of the executive
authorities, the information they have, especially concerning the
merger within the ministries and departments they head.”

Andranik Markaryan expressed confidence that “there is no pressure on
the president from any foreign forces and this is not expected in the
near future” and therefore, it is not worth speaking about the
president’s possible resignation as a result of this pressure.

[Passage omitted: minor details]