BUSINESSMEN’S DEPARTURE NOT TO AFFECT PARTY’S ACTIVITY – ARMENIAN POLITICIAN

Arminfo
10 May 06

Yerevan, 10 May: A crusade has been launched against the Law-Governed
Country Party in the last few months, the deputy chairman of the
parliamentary commission on state-legal issues, Ovannes Markaryan,
told an Arminfo correspondent today while commenting on the mass
departure of businessmen MPs from the party’s parliamentary faction.

He pointed out that the Law-Governed Country Party has 62,000 members
and the departure of some MPs from the party will not affect its
activity. Markaryan said that 1,000 people have joined the party
over the last few months. “The fate of the Law-Governed Country Party
is decided by the people, not by any political forces or individual
persons,” he said.

Markaryan pointed out that the MPs who quit the party had the full
right to do so and that he will not criticize his former party
fellows for this. Asked whether the financial situation of the party
will suffer from the departure of businessmen MPs, he said that the
Law-Governed Country Party has always been happy with membership
fees and has not organized large-scale events that require great
financial expenses.

[Passage omitted: Five members recently quit the party]